Take the Edge Off
by Sora plus Kairi equals love
Summary: AU: It doesn't matter what he does, they'll never be happy. It doesn't matter what she does, they'll always replace her. Sometimes you just need a little to take the edge off. Rated M for substance abuse, language & sexual activities. Chapter 11 has smut, you have been warned. Now complete.
1. Cool Evening Air

So, years ago, I started my first and only Naruto fic. I made one chapter, forgot what I had planned, and jumped ship. Now, I come back to you with as a much improved writer, reading to grab the SasuSaku reins and take them as far as this story and my imagination will lead me.

Before reading this story, you should know a little about WHY this story is written the way it is and the reason the story line goes as it does.

1) I really **loathe** that it seems like 95% of the stories involving Sakura(even AU) she is weak, a victim, and doesn't seem to be able to make her own choices. That bugs me. So in my story, she is weak, but by her choices that she made on her own accord.

2) I'm also tired of stories being CRAMMED with all the characters and they don't make a difference in the story line. If you see one in mine, either it's a completely non-important character that will show up very briefly for a reason, or they will have a bigger part in the story.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters associated with it.**

That all being said, let us get the ball rolling. Happy reading my friends.

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><p>The evening was beautiful, the first of the season, the cool air blowing and the sweet smell of flowers coming to life. The moon was high and bright tonight, the shadows it casted giving his overview of the streets he saw from his balcony depth and mystery. On one street you could see the light of the moon bounce off a flower bed, the next, nothing but darkness.<p>

He enjoyed sitting outside at night during spring the most. It helped to calm his never ending thoughts that bounced around in his mind. He closed his eyes as he leaned back in the chair, taking deep breaths to calm his most recent thought.

As he stood to go inside and head to bed, he heard shuffling from one of the streets below him. He leaned over the balcony, craning his head to the left, only to see a girl suspiciously looking over her shoulder, then turning around and lighting a cigarette. He stood there like that a little longer, wondering who in the world she was. He had lived here his entire life, and never had he seen her in around his neighborhood. You would remember someone with pink hair, right?

"Hn," as the word left his mouth, he realized he was louder than he thought he was. The girl stopped, turning and raising her eyes, only to see an empty balcony._ "That was close,"_ he thought to himself, shutting the door that lead to his bedroom from the balcony. He removed his shirt, and laid down in his bed, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

_His eyes looked left, looked right, and then stopped center. They were down a goal and he knew his team was looking to him to put the game in overtime to help them get the win. Great, just what he needed._

_As his teammate threw the ball in from the sideline towards him, he turned when his cleat stopped the ball and started dribbling the ball down the field. He was passing the half-way line, through the center circle._

_The other team moved to try to stop him, but at every try he faked them out and escaped, ball still just right in front of his feet. As he lined himself for the goal, winding his foot back, the goalies body turned towards him, as his foot made a rough impact with the ball he caught sight of the girl, glaring as the ball made contact with her face._

When he awoke, his body was covered in a light sheen and he was in an upright position. "What the hell was that?" He said to himself, shaking the weird dream from his thoughts, he laid himself back down. It must be all the pressure of the unwanted commitments getting to him… right?


	2. Not Good Enough

Hey guys. Thanks for coming back for chapter two. As you can see from the size of this chapter, the last one was more of an intro into the story to open it up and get some questions going around in your head. Hopefully(If you're reading this chapter) it worked.

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><p><strong>BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!<strong>

Sakura rolled over, turning off her alarm clock. Was it really time to do this already? She had been out late last night. It was always better to explore at night, no one was around to bother you or ask you what you were doing, who you were, what you wanted. It took her awhile to learn that, but it truly was better this way.

She stepped up out of her bed, loathing the frills that covered the four post canopy. Would it really matter? She knew she wouldn't be here much longer. She could survive this. After stretching her arms and legs, she stood up and walked to her dresser where she saw a pink long-sleeved shirt sitting with a long black skirt and pink flats.

"Really?" Sakura rolled her eyes. No way was she letting that woman, Rikana, pick out her clothing. "This isn't fucking happening, this isn't fucking happening," She chanted to herself, grabbing the shirt. If Rikana thought she could pick out her clothes and get away with it, Sakura would oblige, slightly.

She grabbed her scissors, cutting the neck of the shirt, the left sleeve up past the elbow, she looked at the shirt, "Nah, it needs some more work." She then cut the right side above her belly button in a curved motion, leaving a peak on the bottom left side of the fabric. "There we go!"

Putting on a pair of naturally, and extremely, ripped black skinny jeans, her bra, the altered shirt, and her knee-high combat boots, Sakura made her way to the mirror. She brushed out her hair quickly, then place a bobby pin on the right side, holding up the front portion of her hair. Applying her make-up was one of her favorite things to do. She placed black eyeshadow on her lid, flaring it with a shimmer, touched up the remnants of her previous days eyeliner and mascara, then painted her lips bright red.

**New town. New people. New school. Same old her.**

Sakura grabbed for her thick headphones, putting them on her ears, the attached iPod in her pocket, playing. Before she headed to the bedroom door, she checked her deep bag for her small bag of shavings._ "Good. Enough to keep the edge off for now,"_ she thought to herself before leaving the room and walking down the stairs.

Thankfully, Rikana was already gone, so Sakura grabbed the small package on the kitchen island she assumed was hers and a bottle of water. Taking her shavings out, she quickly poured them into the bottle of water then headed out the door.

Arriving at the school a few minutes early, for once, Sakura went to the admission office to make sure her registration went through and get her schedule. After receiving it, she walked out of the office to a commotion around the halls, _"Guess it's time to do this…"_ She sighed heavily and trekked her way to her first period class.

She kept her headphones on while she walked to the classroom marked on the map she was given. She saw kids giving her odd glances out of the corners of her eyes, she really didn't need this right now. Shit like this is what ended up getting her here in the first place. She rounded the corner into her first class, handed her slip to the young male teacher and he placed her in the farthest seat from his desk.

She leaned in the seat, closing her eyes, listening to the music in her ears explaining how she felt.

_You could have been all I wanted_  
><em>But you weren't honest<em>  
><em>Now get in the ground<em>

She took a swig of her water, tasting the difference in it, praying for the edge to be cut off.

_Well you're just as I presumed_  
><em>A whore in sheep's clothing<em>  
><em>Fucking up all I do<em>

As she sat thinking about the words, what they meant to her, seeing them be lived out, she wanted to relive the moment that brought her to where she was now, surrounded by the new. She let it all replay in her head, then jumped, shocked as she was tapped on the shoulder.

Her eyes opened to be meet with her teachers, who motioned for her to removed her headphones. As she did, she looked around the room to see everyone staring at her. So much for being unnoticed. She knew that would never happen, damn this natural hair of hers.

"Sorry, class is about to start. Now, how about you tell us all who you are?" The teachers eyes and brows insinuated that he was smiling, although it was difficult to tell with the mask he wore.

"I'm Sakura," She said, putting her headphones on her neck, "I probably won't be here long enough for it to make a difference if you know anything about me or not."

The teacher gave her a questioning look, "Okay… Well I'm Kakashi and I'll be your Literature teacher. Everyone, if you see Sakura wandering around, or at lunch, invite her to sit with you, get to know-"

"No, please don't," Sakura cut her teacher off, glaring.

Her teacher looked away, slightly stunned, moving his hand to the back of his head, scratching in a nervous motion, returning to the front of the classroom, "Well let's just get back to our lessons on poetry and how to properly analyze it."

Sakura let her mind half wander as her eyes completely did, looking around the room, stopping when she saw some of the most interesting hair she ever imagined. Who in their right mind thought it was good to style their hair like a ducks ass? Yeah, she pushed the limits of normality, but this was just too funny.

"So, Sakura, what do you analyze from E. E. Cummings untitled poem," Her teacher must have noticed her barely paying attention. Thankfully she was at least paying half attention to keywords.

Everyone turned to her. She may be fucked up inside and out, but she wasn't stupid. And she could definitely prove that. "Anyone is a church going man all year round, he sang the praises of his piousness. People, adults and kids, don't like that he was overly religious and kinda a jerk about it, they just went about their business through the seasons. But then as children started to forget, Noone, the girl, loved him regardless. She was nothing without him. Others in the town got married, lived day to day and died, as years go by, eventually Anyone dies and Noone shortly after. They were buried together and now spend eternity together as time passes and people continue about their business."

She saw a few shocked faces. Most people would generally think that someone by her appearance would be a slacker and a dumbass, she was used to the faces. She slowly grabbed her water and took a swig as the heads began to turn back around.

"That's a pretty good analysis, Sakura," Her teacher told her, before turning and addressing the class as a whole, "Homework! I want you all to write a poem, whatever style you prefer, and the meaning behind it. Then we'll trade the poem papers and see if your poem can be successfully analysed by your peers." The bell rang as the students scurried off to their next class, giving Sakura weird looks as they passed.

Nothing was ever good enough, was it?

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><p><em>"Thank god it's lunch time,"<em> the boy thought to himself as he started moving down the stairs to the cafeteria, _"If I don't eat enough, I'll be worn out for practice later."_ As he stepped his foot on the second floor landing he looked out the window to the opposite side of the school. Was that a person sitting on the landing roof parallel to him?

He ignored what he saw and continued to get his food. Approaching the line, his friend jumped into line with him. "Hey, Sasuke, ready for practice?" The blond asked him, telling he was tense from something.

"Hn. I suppose," He spoke in a deep, masculine voice, "Just don't fuck off at practice, Naruto, I've got a lot of homework so far and I don't need to be running extra laps because of you being an idiot."

The one known as Naruto moved his arm to the back of his head, nervously, just like their Literature teacher, "Heh, I'll try my best!"

The two grabbed their food and sat at a table with other soccer mates, talking about their class workload, the team, and of course, girls. Sasuke didn't feel the need to bother with females, he had enough on his plate as is.

After finishing his food, he stood, addressing Naruto, "I've got to go take care of some things, see you at practice."

He headed towards across the open breezeway to the opposite side of the school and took the stairwell up. On the second landing, he noticed the window was open and stopped to peek.

Sitting on the roof of the landing was the girl he saw last night. Her headphones were on her ears, an empty lunch package next to her, writing in a notebook while smoking a cigarette. Didn't she know you couldn't smoke on school grounds?

Sasuke brought his body back inside the open window before she noticed him and continued up the stairs to his destination. Pushing the doors open, he walked inside the large soundproof room, he entered the small office, grabbing his folder from the desk inside.

Grabbing the top piece of paper, he continued to his drum. Placing the music on a stand, his hands felt the familiar sticks in his hands, wooden and smooth to the touch. He let his hands move freely, feeling the beat and playing the music. This was his outlet. His escape. His passion was in the music. It took the edge off of the pressure that was put upon him everyday.

After playing a few songs, he heard the bell ring, signifying lunch was over and it was time to continue to his next class. Sighing, he put the sticks away, returning the music to the folder and the folder to the table, leaving the room. "Until tomorrow," He spoke out loud to himself.

By the end of the day he was worn out. The dobe had once again fooled around during practice and the whole team had to take the brunt of it. Ten extra laps around the field, leaving him an extra 30 minutes late to get home.

Upon returning home, his mother had dinner ready. He slipped his shoes off at the door, placing his bag next to them and walked into the dining room for dinner.

"So Sasuke, did you receive your test back yet?" His father asked him, his ever dark and unforgiving eyes baring into his sons.

"Yes," He paused, his dads eyes mentioning for him to continue, revealing his grade, "I received a 93%" He knew he should have lied, but what did it matter, his dad would find out eventually anyway, it was better to just come out with it now.

"A 93%? That's it? Didn't you study? You know, your brother was in college by this time, he wouldn't have let me down like this," His father was waving his fork about in an angry motion, "How do you expect me to get you into a good college if you can't even keep your grades up? Do you realize that you need a good education in order for you to go into business?"

Like he wanted to do that. The only people who wanted that were his parents, that was obvious enough. Sasuke finished the bite he was chewing, deciding what words to pick next, "I'm sorry father, I studied, but I guess not well enough. I promise to do better next time." He had given up trying to argue with him about this business thing. Ever since his brother up and became a lawyer, his father wanted him to take over the family business. It wasn't fair to him.

"Sasuke, you put your time into these extracurriculars for a reason," His mother added, "You need them for your applications. You can't just have extracurriculars with not a single good grade to back it up!"

_"Not a single good grade?"_ Sasuke thought, _"I have straight As and that's still not good enough?"_ He swallowed his pride once more, "You're right mother. Thank you for dinner, but I guess I should go hit the books now." Excusing himself from the table, he grabbed his bag by the door and headed up the stairs to the left.

Entering his room, he sat his bag down and sighed. He opened his bag and started on the workload he had for the night. Thinking to himself, he was as frustrated as ever. His brother was everything his parents ever wanted. The perfect son. Never arguing back, never getting a grade under a 100%, joining all the extracurricular activities the school would allow, and never having a timing issue. He would always be in his brothers shadow. He could never follow his passion. His test sat in front of him with a 93% in red pen marked, sighing again, he set it aside.

Nothing was ever good enough, was it?

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><p>I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!<p>

Sorry if it seems a little slow, but there are reasons for what I'm doing.

Please review & let me know what you think. :)


	3. Beautifully Sweet Distraction

Thank you all for returning for Chapter 3. I've been working on a time-lapse painting for my youtube channel and it's kinda difficult. A bunch of different Sharingan on the Uchiha Clan symbol. It'll be posted on Friday on my youtube if you wanna check it out. Youtube name is LexCrochet :)

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><p>After school, Sakura took the pleasure of wandering around the new building. She wanted to know all of the escape routes from a class or person if need be. The school was much larger than her last one, for such a small town, but the classrooms were pretty large, wider hallways and lockers, which one could really learn to appreciate.<p>

She wandered for about an hour and found the room that connected her to the roof the safest way other than climbing. She didn't know why, but for as long as she could remember, she loved climbing, being up high, and the roof of the building just calmed her in a way she could never explain. As she continued on the roof, she found a spot where she overlooked the field, surrounded by stands for observers.

Sakura sat down, and watched the boys on the field practice. It was fun to watch someone else exert themselves with physical activity, at least for Sakura it was. She pulled her notebook from her bag, deciding to work on some homework before heading to the noisy house. While she had her bag, she search in a small pocket until her hands produced what looked like a smaller cigarette, hand rolled. She smiled to herself and the item in front of her face, "So we meet again, Miss Mary-Jane."

She placed the joint to her lips, pulling out her lighter and inhaling as deep as she could, holding the smoke in her lungs, letting it fill the hidden crevices inside of her chest. Yeah, it wasn't as harsh as she would prefer, but being that she had hidden her other things at the house she really didn't want to be in at the moment, and the fact that she needed to keep the feelings away, this would have to suffice. Her water bottle with her shavings was empty and long gone after lunch. After holding her breath for what seemed forever, she exhaled, coughing slightly.

Almost immediately she felt the difference in her body. Normally she wouldn't feel it this soon, but switching from the upper she had all day to a downer, yeah, you'll feel it and it'll hit hard. Although she was always told never to mix uppers with downers(and never to touch the things at all), she enjoyed the way her body felt confused, lost in an almost Alice in Wonderland type of feeling. She wouldn't hallucinate or anything insane like that, just the feeling of being lost to her own body was what exhilarated her the most.

Her headphones had been resting on her ears, playing her music as she watched the players and wrote in her book. As she listened to the lyrics, she started writing her Literature poem to be analyzed. She softly let the words of the song escape her lips as she wrote.

_Running for her life_  
><em>The dark rain from her eyes still falls<em>  
><em>Breathtaking butterfly<em>  
><em>Chose a dark day to live<em>  
><em>Save one breath for me<em>

She had half of her poem finished, watching the words just fly from her hands. She knew that those words were true to her, true to what she had been through. She knew what it was like and how it felt to end up this way. She doubted many in this small town could say the same. The way this town seemed so perfect, how did she end up here?

_Why do I miss someone I never met, with bated breath I lay?_  
><em>Sea winds brought her to me<em>  
><em>A butterfly, mere one day miracle of life<em>  
><em>And all the poetry in the world finally makes sense to me<em>  
><em>Save one death for me<em>

As Sakura finished her poem, she put her book away, still smoking her joint. _"Release, sweet and utter release,"_ she thought to herself, looking at the almost finished joint, _"Just enough to keep the edge off."_ Thinking to herself, she was pulled away from her mind, hearing a whistle being blown. Looking to the field, she squinted to see the players. Maybe this town had one good thing, maybe one of those soccer players could keep her mind at bay, off of the thoughts of him.

She squinted harder, trying to make out faces, only to be distracted by the bodies of the players she saw running around without their shirts on. Then she saw it again, making her actually laugh out loud this time. _"Seriously, who cuts their hair like a chickens ass?"_

Laughing she got up, not wanting to be seen, as she saw the players heading back to the building. She walked towards the locker rooms she had found earlier while wander around the almost empty building. Hiding behind a ball rack, she watched the boys file in. The players talked, carrying around and didn't see her as she peeked at them, enjoying the view of the muscular forms before her. It'd be enough to keep her distracted for a little while, at least, right?

As they filed in, she found her eyes to a mediocre male, not overly attractive, but not ugly, easy prey. After they all entered the locker room and Sakura took her leave to find a better spot to hide, waiting for her prey to leave the room. _"If only he knew about this. I could have done the same to him, and he never would have known. But I didn't and he did,"_ She thought to herself, then remembering the ugly truth, she wince to herself and shook it clear from her thoughts.

She watched a group of the boys leave, and the last one she saw was her prey. _"Good, he's all alone at the end,"_ She turned to leave her hiding spot and walked up to the boy. "Hey there, sexy." She put emphasis on the last word of her sentence, while winking and swaying her hips the way she knew could attract males like no other.

The boy with light brown hair looked at her, slightly confused, and then decided to go with it, "H-Hey," the soccer player stammered, "You must be new, I've never seen you before."

"I AM new, thank you for noticing," Sakura smiled sweetly, getting closer, "So I will admit, me being new and all, I've gotten kind of lost around the school, and I know it's getting later and it's after hours, but, could you help show me around?" She batted her eyelashes, knowing that even with her make-up and her more abnormal style(at least compared to the girls here) would attract him to want to help her. Guys love helping the damsel in distress, right?

"Sure," he smiled back at her, "I'm Yuzuru, by the way. So where were you getting lost?"

Sakura immediately remembered the empty room she had found on the 2nd floor, perfect for when she wanted to ditch a class, "I'm Sakura, would you mind showing me the 2nd floor. When it wraps around, I get all confused!" He nodded as he led the way to the stairwell, Sakura with a slightly evil smile moving unto her face, thinking, _"Gotcha!"_

The boy, Yuzuru showed Sakura around the second flood, moving in and showing her different rooms, when they approached the room she knew was desolate of any desks, a thin layer of dust on the items, she walked to the door, "What's this room?"

Yuzuru opened the door, "This room has been left empty for a while. The vents don't work right in here for some reason, so they decided it wasn't safe for students." As he turned around, he noticed Sakura had closed the door and was slowly approaching him, "What are you doing?"

"Oh, you know… I thought, since you were so nice to show me around, I could reward you for helping me," She put emphasis on the word 'reward', "Wouldn't you like that?" She asked him her question as she backed him against the old teachers desk, her hands laying on it on either side, trapping him.

"What did you have in mind?" A devious smile approached his face as he placed his hands on either side of her waist. As he was waiting for Sakura to reply, she simply attached her lips to his in a strong, forceful kiss, licking his lips, waiting for him to open them. Their tongues met and danced. _"Not that bad, but not the best either,"_ Sakura thought to herself as she ran her hands in his hair. **God**, did it feel good to have the hands of another human being on her. It had been so long! She reveled in the warmth of his hands and his still slightly sweaty chest meeting her chillier skin.

This felt unbelievable. Not that he really had to do much. The shavings of the ecstasy she laced her water with mixed with the weed she had just smoked allowed her skin to feel like heaven. She adjusted her weight, with the help of the male holding her waist, to put her knees on either side of him on the desk he was now sitting on. What was his name again? Zuru? Yaza? Who the fuck cared. He was such a beautiful distraction from what had been stuck in her head, yet again, all day today.

She let his hands roam up her uncovered stomach, the altered shirt she still wore making access easier than pie. She moved her kisses into a more frantic state, wanting to feel the way the drugs in her system allowed her to. It was almost more heavenly than she could have imagined to be able to feel this way. She hadn't felt this way since-

Now with the thought back on her mind, she knew that her distraction was done with, it worked for a little at least, and she got to feel amazing thanks to her choice of drugs. She removed herself from the desk. "Thanks, sugar. But I better get going," She said as she picked up her bag and left the room, leaving the poor boy in shock, unable to recover from the fast change of events which he was almost sure he was about to get laid.

As she left the building, Sakura smiled to herself, evilly, once again. If all the boys here were this easy, she was going to have as much fun as she could while she was here.

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><p>Sasuke sat at his desk, working on his homework for the night, fake arguments rolling around in his mind. Ways for him to get his parents to realize he didn't wanna follow in his brothers footsteps. He didn't want to follow in his fathers footsteps. He didn't want to go to a prestigious college for business. He wanted to have his own dream and allow himself to follow his passion. Unfortunately for him, every single argument, even in his own head, he lost. He ended up getting either backhanded by his father or locked in his room by his mother. So, pretty much normal everyday life.<p>

He sighed, taking off his shirt, the day warmer than he had thought, grabbing his iPod and headphones with a notebook, heading outside to his balcony to work on his poem, the only facet of his homework he had left to complete. This was one of his least favorite things to do. His teacher, Kakashi knew when a student was just writing stuff to barely slide by, and he knew when the student put emotion into it. Sasuke had tried before to just write to get his grade, and it failed miserably on it. Not only did he receive an 85%, but his dad backhanded him and threw him against the wall after calling him a disgrace, and forced him to stay locked in his bedroom for the weekend without food.

Sitting there, he tried to remember what it was like before his brother had left. He was younger and there weren't any pressures on him like now. He also remembered that his dad didn't drink back then._ "Here's to wishful thinking,"_ Sasuke thought to himself as he started his music, one of his favorite bands playing a softer song than usual, trying to find the words to write.

_Born from silence, silence full of it_  
><em>A perfect concert my best friend<em>  
><em>So much to live for, so much to die for<em>  
><em>If only my heart had a home<em>

Normally he would expect one of their songs to start off slow and soft and blast into a symphonic melody of chaos. That wasn't the case. As he closed his eyes, he listened to the words, letting them sink into his brain, into his soul, helping him find the words to write for his poem. He listened to the song, appropriately titled _"Dead Boy's Poem"_. He then opened his eyes and let his pen jot ideas for his own poem.

_Sing what you can't say_  
><em>Forget what you can't play<em>  
><em>Hasten to drown into beautiful eyes<em>  
><em>Walk within my poetry, this dying music<em>  
><em>- My love letter to nobody<em>

After listening to the song, Sasuke felt like he might explode, the words he wrote expressing some of what he felt, for once. He wasn't used to letting his emotions out. His parents would only react even more negatively if he did. The silence that his parents subjected him to other than their constant pressure for more had caused him to shut himself off. Tired of living in the shadow of his brother, he couldn't say how many times he had thought of how much he had to die for. They wouldn't care if he had just stopped breathing. He would never be enough in their eyes and he knew it.

He sighed, opening his eyes and looked over his balcony railing as he saw the same girl from the night before, the one who was sitting outside the landing at school, climbing out of a window and towards the roof of a house across the street. He didn't know Rikana had a daughter… He's lived here all his life and had never seen her before last night. Where was she for all these years? Come to think of it, she didn't really even look like Rikana.

Sasuke watched as the girl hoisted herself up onto the roof of the house, her bare back showing. She turned around, looking up into the sky, completely neglectful to the fact that there were eyes watching her. He watched her in wonder, trying to figure out who she was and what she was doing. Why was he so intrigued?

A breeze picked up and Sasuke watched as her shoulder length pink hair moved in the wind and she smiled slightly. _"She must enjoy watching the clouds,"_ he thought to himself. He watched as she stood there, taking in the sight of her. Without even standing close to her he could tell she was short, much shorter than him. Her pink hair looked as if it was just colored, not a root on her head. Her body and curves being pronounced by the clothing she wore. Her hips seemed to have a perfect curve to them as well, accentuated in her ripped jeans she wore. Her legs skinny, but long, slightly sensual in their length. His eyes moved to her torso, taking in the sight of seeing her bare stomach, something unusual for girls in this town to do. Her shirt revealed it, cut halfway between her belly button and under her bust. He saw a sparkle shimmering from the sunlight and only assumed she had a ring in her belly button, something he had always thought was weird. Her shirt slung off her shoulder, looking to be cut to allow it to hang, the top off it showing off a bit of cleavage. He raised his eye at seeing this, _"Like you have time for girls."_

He leaned back, his music still playing, watching the girl across the way. He placed his feet on the railing of his balcony, accidentally knocking a water bottle that was resting there off and it plummeted to the ground. The girl looked over as she heard the sound, her eyes connecting with Sasukes. He couldn't see what color they were, he couldn't see the way her brows lifted, but he could feel the mysterious and unknown feeling in the pit of his stomach. They stared at each other for a few seconds, Sasuke becoming even more uncomfortable with the feeling he was having he raised himself up, gathering his things and went inside. _"What the hell was that?"_ He thought to himself as he put his work into his bag and made his way to his desk.

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><p><strong>Please review what you think of this chapter. I'd love to get some feedback on this story.<strong>


	4. Dreams

I'd like to thank UchihaJennifer for her review. It really meant a lot to me knowing that I was going in the right direction with this story and that at least someone enjoyed it. I know I got a few follows and faves, but having those words reassuring me meant a lot. Thank you and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

And I'm back with Chapter 4. Hopefully by now you're all hooked and enjoying the story well enough.

**This chapter contains alcohol & adult themes.**

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><p>Sasuke went to the trunk he kept at the foot of his bed, moving it to the side. Leaning down he stuck his foot down, a loose floorboard lifting on the opposite side. Pulling it aside, he reached in to grab the bottle he had stolen from his dad a few months ago when he was in a drunken stupor, only to be met with an almost unfortunate site to see there was all but a sip left. He put the bottle to his lips, taking the last sip of the scotch, putting it back into its hiding spot until he could dispose of it.<p>

_"I thought I had more, enough to numb myself, at least,"_ Sasuke thought to himself, sighing heavily, moving his trunk back to cover the hiding spot. He laid down on the bed, closing his eyes softly as he allowed himself to feel the only burn he would for a while, lingering in his throat. Too bad it wasn't enough to do the trick he was hoping for. He laid there, eyes closed, day dreaming of the girl across the road, her eyes meeting his, causing his stomach to turn. Never, in his almost 18 years had he felt anything like that. It was almost nerve wrecking. He let his mind wander to try to figure out what it meant.

**THUNK!**

"What the fuck…?" Sasuke said out loud to himself, sitting up and moving his feet to the floor. He walked to his balcony door, opening it, and stepping out. His eyes opened in shock as his eyes met with the pink haired girl up close and personal. He became entranced in the almost jade green orbs, that by the time he snapped out of it, she had placed a bottle into his hand and was now standing on the railing of his balcony, climbing onto the roof. He heard footsteps pittering on the roof and soon down the side trellis of his house.

"Wait!" Sasuke said as he leaned over the railing, trying to see where she was. He saw her running through the yard and out onto the street, turning to look over her shoulder, smiling brightly.

"Enjoy yourself!" She said as she turned around another corner, away from the home he saw her on earlier, and off into the streets, the falling dusk around her.

Turning around, Sasuke walked back into his room, leaving the balcony door open to allow the breeze in, and just incase the girl returned. He looked at the bottle in his hand, smiling to himself. Cheap scotch, but it was scotch nonetheless. Attached was a post it note that Sasuke read: _You looked like you might need this more than me._ It was signed with a drawing of a flower of some sort._ P.S. Find a loose floorboard, they never check_. He couldn't help but smile again, muttering to himself, "How did she know?"

Moving his trunk back to the side, once more, he lifted the loose floorboard, removing the empty bottle and glass. He placed the empty bottle into his bag, tucked deeply into the dark fabric that no one would notice when he walked with it outside of the house. The seal to the bottle was already cracked, he assumed she had indulged herself first before giving it to him. Sasuke removed the lid and poured himself a decent amount in his glass, checking behind himself to make sure his door was locked.

"Cheers," he lifted his glass into the air to himself and the possibly imaginary pink haired girl. He had heard her voice before...but where? He took a sip, thinking to where. He was starting to believe he was crazy, seeing her walk in the dark street, alone, on the roof landing at school, alone, then again on both her roof, alone, and finally his balcony, this time not alone. But what if he was? He had read stories about the pressure of someones life, whatever it may be, causing them to go insane enough to create a human being out of their imagination. Maybe this is what was happening to him.

It could be very possible that he was going insane. He was pretty sure the only time he heard her speak was as she was running down the street away from him. And he was almost positive that Rikana didn't have a daughter, or any family. She never had visitors from what he knew. It seemed like whenever he saw the pink haired girl, she was alone. It wasn't until today that she even noticed him.

Sasuke looked down at his glass, realizing that while deep in thought, he had drank the entire contents. What would one more glass hurt? He poured his second glass, sipping as he thought to himself. This wasn't a bad way to end the night. His mind off his parents, school and practice, mainly focusing on this mysterious girl, like no other he had ever seen before.

"Sakura!" He half shouted, half slurred to himself. That's how he knew her voice! She was the new student in his Literature class. He was positive that he had heard her voice before and he matched it to the girl who told them not to approach her. Then something about how she wouldn't be there long enough for it to matter? What was her story?

Finishing his glass, he placed it back into his hiding spot, along with the bottle this time, closing the open gap with the piece of wood and shoving his trunk back over to hide it once more. Leaving the rest of his room as it were, balcony door open, light on, he decided he wanted to lay down. He stood up, having a hard time balancing, and went to his bed, laying on it right before the liquor took over and he passed out.

_"Why are you here?" Sasuke asked her. She was standing next to his bed, goosebumps on her arms, it had grown chilly in his room from him leaving the door open all night._

_"No important reason, really," She started, leaning down and kissing him. Sasukes eyes opened in shock before he realized what was happening, continuing the kiss. She had moved on top of him, her legs on either side, kissing him fiercely and he couldn't help but think of how good of a kisser she was. The thing was he wanted more. He wanted to lift her shirt off and remove her jeans, kiss her neck, chest, stomach, anywhere he could. He knew he couldn't do this, he didn't have time for girls._

_But he didn't need to worry, she took control and did it for him. Lifting her shirt off, throwing it to the side of the bed, she leaned down to kiss him some more, enjoying the look in his eyes as she had taken off the barely covering shirt. She pulled away again, her hands going behind her back to the clasp holding her breasts into her bra. She let them loose and started to pull away the bra._

Even before he could see her breasts in a dream, Sasuke's body awoke him to the cold in his room. He sat up, staring down at himself, his manhood awake and aroused, and tightly constrained in his shorts. _"Great…. I told myself I didn't have time for girls, and now I start dreaming about this one?"_

He sighed heavily as he got up, shutting off his light and walking to his balcony door. He could still feel the cool of the night and the alcohol was still lighting touching his tastebuds. By the look of the moon and sky, he had only been asleep a few hours.

As Sasuke approached his sliding door, he looked out to see the light on in the room Sakura had climbed out of earlier that day. He stood there as he saw a figure in the room. Squinting, he noticed it was Sakura. She looked like she had more than just the few sips out of the bottle she gave him. She stopped and looked at what he assumed was her phone, and removed her shirt, just like in his dream. He couldn't help but watch as he saw her throw the shirt aside and her hands go behind her back. Maybe if his dreams wouldn't show it to him, he could see it in real life, not up close and personal, but this might be enough to settle the feeling in his stomach.

At the moment she went to remove her bra, Sasuke saw her look to the window, their eyes meeting for the 3rd time that day. She smile as she flicked him off, and he laughed to himself. She was quirky and feisty, just like in his dream. He went to turn around as he heard her voice, her window still obviously open.

"Hey chicken butt!" She yelled from across the street. He turned back around, her chest bare, completely exposed to him, "Enjoy the show?" She laughed loudly out the window as Sasuke turned, almost running into his door, shutting it and walking to his bed, a blush brighter than the red of a tomato filling his cheeks.

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><p>Sakura laughed loudly to herself, even after the boy with the chicken butt hair closed his door. She loved the way the other bottle of her stolen scotch made her feel, loosening her up, her inhibitions out the window, allowing her to feel human again, if only for a brief while. She wouldn't let her past catch up to her now, not in this moment of bliss.<p>

Climbing onto his balcony, knowing he was right inside gave her a beautiful thrill, especially with the help of her little blue friends. The adrenaline of being able to get caught by his parents with a girl on his connecting balcony, or someone seeing her crawling down their trellis, it was wonderful! The way her stomach lit up, like she might throw up, but then the excitement came and fueled the fire under her ass!

She made a mental note to herself to figure out Chicken Butts real name. She surely couldn't go around called him Chicken Butt for however long she would be here. She then wondered to herself if she would remember to remember to ask him his name, or if she could even remember properly what he looked like. She only saw him briefly as she climbed off his balcony, the onyx eyes touching hers, her adrenaline running too high for her to completely remember now, but that could also be the alcohol.

Even the encounter with him moments ago, she couldn't fully remember all of it. Plus, he was hard to see in the dark. The only reason she knew it was actually him was because of the shadow his hair cast. _"Who else but Chicken Butt?!"_ Sakura laughed to herself again. Maybe she shouldn't have downed almost half of her bottle. She had to be presentable for school tomorrow, she just got settled in, she didn't wanna get uprooted that fast. Plus, she had to learn Chicken Butts name!

Sakura was far too hot, even with her window blowing a breeze in, and she knew that she definitely should have cut herself off earlier than she did. Her world spinned slightly, but she enjoyed feeling like a child who had spun themselves around to the point of dizziness, it made her feel semi-whole again.

Stripping herself of her other clothing, she climbed into the canopy bed Rikana had placed there for her. She had to admit, besides the frilly, overly girly vomit the room produced, the bed was rather fabulous to sleep on. And the sheets! The sheets were something similar to satin, her naked body sliding around on them, loving and embracing the cool slimy feeling on her otherwise hot skin. She could really consider being the perfect daughter so she could sleep in this bed every night. She had never in her life slept in a bed this comfortable, and she really didn't wanna let it go.

Sakura let her mind wander in itself, flipping the light switch next to the bed, laying her head down on the softest pillow she could ever have imagined. She closed her eyes, trying to remember Chicken Butt's shocked face as she placed the bottle in his hands. She wondered if he drank it. Did he feel as wonderful as she did right now?_ "I hope he does, after the small show I gave him!"_ Sakura thought before sleep completely encompassed her being.

_Sakura walked into the familiar home, knowing exactly what she was planning. It was their one year anniversary and she had really planned a beautiful night, with the help of her best friend here, Ino. She really wanted everything to be perfect for when Shikamaru got home from work._

_Their last year together had really been everything Sakura had imagined. He loved all of her quirks, made her laugh, took her in when the house was locked. He helped her on her ups and downs. She gave her innocence to him and he treated her like she always thought she would be. He made up for the lack in her life. She couldn't have been happier._

_Sakura quietly started preparing the food in the kitchen when she heard a noise from the top floor. "That's weird, Shikamaru works for another 30 minutes…" She said to herself, putting her knife down and heading up the stairs to figure out what was going on. Following the noise she ended up at the bedroom door._

_Sakura opened the door, hands thrown to her face, gasping. "Sakura!" The voices shouted at her. Sakura watched from the doorway as the man she thought she loved laid on his bed, a woman on top of him, with long blond hair. What a great best friend she was…_

_Sakura turned around, running down the stairs, knocking everything down that she could in her rampage. She knew how much his things meant to him, and he had hurt her, she wanted to hurt him even more. She ran out of the house, slamming the door, kicking the side mirror off of his car as she walked away._

_Walking the opposite way in which she had come, a block down she spotted Ino's car. "Seriously?" She screamed out loud. "Seriously? You know I walk everywhere and you just PARK IT IN PLAIN SIGHT!?" She was losing herself. She ran up to the car, her ringed knuckle digging into the side of it, creating a nasty looking scratch. As she continued to walk by, she kicked the tire, the spike on her shoe making contact and a slow hiss exiting the tire._

_Fucking served them both right._

Sakura awoke, panting for air, in a hot sweat. This was not how she wanted to start her day. With a dream of it on her mind. He had ruined her, taken her innocence, lied to her, and left her alone, broken, with nothing. She had taken her trust, and betrayed it, ruining the sanctity of friendship. The fact that the two people could take such a grasp of her life disgusted her. Why did she allow it?

Looking at the clock, she was told that it was 5:43 AM. "Ughhh!" Sakura grunted, annoyed at the fact that she had even had the dream in the first place, but also that it had woken her up. She knew there was no way she would make it back to sleep after that nightmare. Sighing she sat up, talking to herself, "Might as well start the day…"

She stretched out her limbs, enjoying the pull of her muscles, and headed for her attached bathroom. Walking past her window, she looked out to see if Chicken Butt was on his terrace, to no avail. Why did she even care if he was there or not? She didn't even know his name and she doubt he remembered hers. There was just something about him that she felt like she could connect to. Who knows, maybe she could.

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><p>Let me know what you think!<p> 


	5. Dead Boy's Poem

Sasuke sat in his first period Literature class, his mind filled with all the events from the evening before. He had never expected it to go like that. He has assumed that his night at home would be as dull as ever, filled with homework and nothing else, but he had to admit that the sweet surprise of the mostly full bottle from the pink haired climber was worth the changing events.

He looked up to see her walking into the room. She really wasn't like any of the girls he had ever seen or met before. She wore a black tube bra, seemly securely holding her in, a bare stomach except her belly ring, a long black bohemian skirt, and what he assumed to be the combat boots he saw her in the day before.

Sasuke didn't know if it was because of her uniqueness or the fact that she just was, but he couldn't help thinking of how beautiful she looked. Her make-up framed her bone structure and her hair was wild and unruly, like she didn't bother to brush it. The dark fabric against her utterly pale, milky skin was breathtaking, to say the least. He realized he was staring at her when she walked over to his desk, leaning down, elbows on his desk in a way that he figured would have been less seductive if she had more clothing on. He had this happen to him before, he normally knew what to say to the girls who approached him. He just simply wasn't interested, but now, he had no idea. His mouth went dry as she looked him straight in the eyes.

"Hey Chicken Butt," She said, smiling, "You ever going to tell me your real name?"

He could feel the heat of other students eyes baring into his skin as he tried to find his voice.

"Oh a man of mystery, are we?" Sakura asked half rhetorically before rolling her eyes and starting to walk away.

"Sasuke," He said, finally finding his voice. She turned again to look at him over her shoulder, smiling.

"It's better than Chicken Butt," She walked away, to her seat, obviously amused with herself.

Sakura couldn't help but take notice to the blush that creeped to his face when she leaned on his desk. Normally, she would have thought of him to be another distraction, another mouth to kiss, but there was something that told her he wasn't. She couldn't help but notice the similar feeling with Sasuke that she had with_** him**_, especially when her eyes met his near obsidian ones. She felt nothing other than the need to know more about him.

Sasuke sat, almost rigid from knowing that just about every other student in the class was staring at him. He wasn't used to feeling like that. Sure he was used to girls trying to fawn over him, but he never felt like he was being stared at, continuously. Normally the girls would get the picture and back off. He really didn't have time for this. There was already too much on his plate and he knew it. There was no point in thinking about the girl as long as he could help it.

"Okay, I hope everyone completed their poetry analysis I assigned last night," the students looked up as the teacher walked into the room, as if he was oblivious to his own tardiness. "So pass them forward and I'll hand them out to other students."

The room hushed as students look around, almost embarrassed to have the other students read their poems. Kakashi took the piles from the front of the rows, shuffling them around quickly, then sending them back down the rows.

Sakura looked at the paper the person in front of her handed her, almost laughing at the sheer coincidence of ending up with his paper. Only her.

_Sasuke Uchiha_

_You Make Me Wanna Scream_

_You make me wanna scream  
>The way that you confuse me<br>Driving me insane  
>You know just what to say<em>

_You make me wanna scream  
>The way that you abuse me<br>You tell me all these lies  
>Like they'll eventually be true<em>

_You make me wanna scream  
>The way that you compare<br>Giving all I can give  
>Only to fall what seems to be short<em>

_You make me wanna scream  
>The way you know you're better<br>You tell me so in the way you move  
>Happy to know you're better<em>

_You make me wanna scream  
>The way that you don't care<br>About what makes me happy  
>Like I'm not even there<em>

_You make me wanna scream  
>Doing all of this for you<br>Never appreciating  
>I'll never be good enough<em>

Sakura read the poem, reading the meaning behind it. She felt like at some point in his life he dealt with the same situation as she had with **_him_**. She knew there was a reason she gave him the bottle last night. It was obvious to her that he had needed it. This was definitely why. She had saw a notebook with him when their eyes met before she climbed onto his balcony.

It wasn't until she reread the poem and noticed the lines, _'The way that you compare'_ and _'The way that you don't care about what makes me happy'_ that she knew he wasn't talking as a scorned lover. He was talking about his home life, his parents, and what seemed to be an older sibling.

Sakura followed the instructions to write the analysis under the poem and to sign your name. _The writer does all that he can to make his parents approve of what he does, only to fall short at every chance he gets. He only does what he does for them to stop comparing him to his sibling. They tell him things that confuse him, maybe telling him that he's good at what he's doing only to go back and say it wasn't good enough. They tell him lies, probably about his future, and he really doesn't believe them, doesn't want them to be true. In the end he feels like no matter what he does, he will never be good enough for them to compare to his sibling._ She sat, happy with her analysis, then added to it. Don't worry though, eventually it'll get better, you'll become numb to it. _And even though I don't know you, I can tell, you're better than your sibling. Don't succumb to their demands._ She signed it with a sakura flower and waited for them to be collected.

On the other side of the room, Sasuke sat reading his poem as well. He knew right away who it belonged to when he saw the sakura blossom drawn on the top corner of the page. She was always different, every chance she had, wasn't she?

_Drowning_

_I'm drowning  
>I can see the light<br>The light would save me  
>From this alternate universe<br>This universe filled with you_

_Haunting my dreams and my hopes  
>You see what you think is my soul and how I feel<br>You see what you think is my life with your own two eyes  
>You don't really know<em>

_I beg to be freed from this crazy place  
>But I'm kept your prisoner, under your spell<br>I try to run away from it all  
>But I know I can't leave it that way<em>

_So many emotions fill my heart and my head  
>Those eyes which beam into my mind<br>Those eyes which see my every move  
>Fade away to someone new<em>

_I want to be freed, to run away  
>But I'm kept your prisoner, under your spell<br>You took my innocence, you took my love  
>You took what I offered you and threw it away<em>

_I can do nothing but hope to be released from this hell  
>Those that that bound me, the voice that called<br>I beg to be freed from this water I now call home  
>It's useless and futile, this all I know<em>

_I swim to where I think I can escape  
>Only to be drowning in something new<em>

Sasuke stared at the poem, trying desperately to analyze it. He hated doing these types of things. No matter what, he always felt like he was wrong. It took so much just for him to write his own damn poem. He reread the poem almost 4 times before he decided to write what he thought she meant._ The writer implies that she is drowning in most likely a significant other, like she is in a different time of universe where he is in control of what she's doing or how she feels. She feels like he tries to see who she is, but never actually does. She feels like he's always watching her, like he knows what she's going to do before she herself does. Then suddenly he's moved on to someone else. She wants to move on, but she can't due to the heartbreak that he caused her. She feels used, left alone, and side swiped by him moving on to someone else. She hopes she can be released from the pain he caused her, but she soon gives up, figuring it'll never happen._ He couldn't really figure out the last part of what she meant until he thought of the night before, watching her in her window, like she was hopped up on drugs… Drugs? Could that have been it? She's drowning in drugs...she didn't really look like a typical drug user. He didn't feel like he should write that on there. _She feels like she can get away from the heartbreak, but only falls into another issue just the same._

Sasuke looked at the analysis again after reading the poem one more time. He thought it seemed close enough. Almost instantly after he finished Kakashi looked up from his book, "Okay, give them to their owners, talk a bit about if they're correct or not."

"Aren't you going to grade them?" A random student piped up.

"You can grade them for me. If your partner got it right, we'll go with an A. Just don't interrupt my reading," Kakashi said before slouching his shoulders back into his book. There was a murmur around the classroom, students embarrassed to have to talk to the person who read their poem.

Sasuke turned around to see Sakura smiling at him, patting the empty seat next to her. He sighed, getting up and walking back to her. How did she know he had her poem? As he walked to the desk, he saw his poem sitting on hers, like hers was in his hand. That's how. Great. Not only did he have to pick apart her obviously wounded words, but she did the same to his. The one time he actually expressed himself, and it had to be this girl to read it.

"So…" She started, looking a little awkward, the first time Sasuke had seen her this way. Normally, even through her 'back the fuck up and leave me alone' aura, she seemed to exude confidence.

"Hn." Sasuke sat down, crossing his arms awkwardly. Sakura handed him his paper back, taking hers from the desk he sat it on.

"Don't look so thrilled, Chicken Butt!" She smirked, causing him to blush again.

Sasuke read the commentary she wrote on his paper, stopping to admire yet another sakura flower on this page as well. He couldn't believe she had hit the nail on the head while reading his poem. He didn't think it was that easy to figure out, but then again, after her analysis of E. E. Cummings, should he really be that surprised? This girl obviously had a head on her shoulders, despite the fact that she looked like she could care less.

He must have zoned out, because when Sakura tapped his leg, sending a shock through his system, he looked up to her quizzical face, "What?"

"I asked how I did," She said, her face had changed from the happy one she wore earlier to one that caused her to furrow her brow. Maybe he had done just a good of a job on hers as she did with his.

"Definitely an A. How did you manage to hit the nail right on the head?" Sakura watched as the corner of his mouth created a small smirk. She smiled in return.

"I really enjoy poetry. Edgar Allan Poe is one of my favorites," She said, staring at her paper, "I guess I should let you know you got an A as well then…" Her eyes looked away, shifting again, like she was embarrassed. Sasuke had only seen her look confident in who she was and what she believed, he found this weird, but then again, she might know that he could tell what she meant in the last line of her poem.

Sakura bit her lip slightly and stared at Sasuke. The rest of the class were still going over their poems with the people who reviewed theirs. She watched as he looked like he wanted to say something or ask her something. She wasn't used to people openly talking to her, "Are you alright? I mean, you look like you want to say something."

Sasuke looked up, his face showed that he was contemplating if he should tell her the truth or not. "The last line of your poem," He paused, "You didn't fall back into a similar relationship with a person, did you? It was something else, wasn't it?" He wasn't used to actually having conversations with anyone other than his soccer mates, normally Naruto.

Sakura looked away, "No. I wasn't. Apparently you hit the nail on the head as well."

Sasuke was about to ask her more, ask her if it was drugs, but the bell rang, signifying the end of their class and Sakura looked at him as if silently telling him yes and to keep his mouth shut. Then he sat in silence as he watched her get up and walk out of the classroom, hips swaying fast, but determined to get away from the situation at hand.

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><p><strong>I'm sorry if this story is going a little slow for anyone. When I write fics, I try to imagine them as a book. A book doesn't give everything away at once, that wouldn't be fun! So just hang in there. The next chapter has more back story.<strong>

**Okay so this is the first chapter where I combined both the Sasuke part and the Sakura part. I enjoy doing them separately because you can see the difference in the two characters, their lives and such. I haven't even begun to delve into the depths of this story line and I apologize because this will probably be a long fic.**

**The original idea came to me at 5AM after having a monster at 9PM the night before and somehow STILL being awake even though I was up for almost 24 hours and I was extremely out of it. I played with the idea inside my head for like 2 days, trying to perfect the small details(most of which have yet to be revealed) and go from there. Last chapter you found out more why Sakura is the way she is, but not completely. **

**And I know the first chapter is hard to get through, it was awful, but it was more of an introduction since I didn't wanna start it just with Sakura waking up like she did in Chapter 2. But once you get through the first chapter, I really think it picks up and makes you interested enough to keep going. A lot of the extra details I've been having dreams about, so I'm adding them to the story, and it will still get me to the overall end of the story.**

**As for the poems used in this chapter. They are both mine. I wrote the originals almost 7 or 8 years ago(they originals are on my deviant art). I have changed them to mean more to the character that 'wrote' them. Edgar Allan Poe is truly one of my favorite writers, I have an anthology of all of his works. He was a crazy man with such a beautiful mind and I KINDA got some points of Sakura loosely from him(having to get doped up on opium to write). If you haven't gotten to read any of his works, Please look into Annabel Lee, and The Raven for poems. One of my favorites of his stories which is absolutely insane and kind of scary(when you're 10) is The Fall of the House of Usher. **


	6. Wicked Mess & a Bottle of Jack

**I want to dedicate this chapter to nerd94. Thank you for your review. It made me more confident in my story & writing. I appreciate what you said.**

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><p>At the end of the day, Sakura walked around the school, not quite wanting to go back to the house. She explored more of the school for a bit and eventually made her way back to the roof. She knew she could find Sasuke on the field at soccer practice, so she took the chance to get into the fresh air and watch him at the same time. Normally, she'd feel like a creepy fangirl for deciding to do this, but from the blush that he had on his face earlier, she'd like to say it was innocent studying and possible flirting.<p>

She opened her back, finding a small container in which she pulled a joint from._ "Nothing wrong with a little buzz while watching some mildly, some highly, attractive guys run around a field, sweat glistening off their chests,"_ Sakura started to think to herself before she interrupted her own thoughts with another, _"Wow, Sakura, sweat glistening? Been a while hasn't it?"_

Sighing, Sakura lit the herb, inhaling and enjoying the feeling of her first marijuana only high in a while. She had run out of her fun little uppers, and running short on cash, far from desperate enough to throw herself at the man who supplied her. The great thing about the marijuana, she knew where to find it, and it held her at bay when she needed to float high above everything weighing her down.

Sakura sat with her legs crossed back from the edge of the roof, to ensure she didn't do something stupid and possibly topple over the side, eyes searching for the chicken ass hair. That was one sight she didn't think she could ever pass up. Regardless of who he was, his body spoke out in other measures. You could tell he was an athlete under his clothing, but watching him run around the field shirtless, her mind ran wild with dirty thoughts anyone would be ashamed to even share with their diary. Getting herself out of her daze of staring at the soccer player, she shook her head. Realizing the team would probably be done soon, she rose, finishing off her herb cigarette and tossing it, deciding to head off the roof and back to the house.

The coach blew his whistle signaling that practice was over. Sasuke stopped running, turning around, stopping at the sidelines to grab his water bottle and shirt, heading towards the school. When he looked at the building, he saw a figure walking on the roof. He squinted hard, noticing the pink hair and the bare skin. _"Sakura."_ He thought to himself. Why did it seem that she was everywhere he least expected her to be? He slightly smiled to himself, assuming she had seen him. He felt like it made this practice more worthwhile.

Sasuke arrived home, ate dinner with his parents and excused himself to his room. When he arrived in his room, he sat his bag down, took off his shirt and socks, throwing them into the dirty hamper. He walked to his balcony door, ready to open it and allow some cool flowing air into his room. He stepped out on to the balcony and almost jumped out of his skin.

"What are you doing here?!" He asked, almost panicked as he turned his head quickly, making sure his door was locked. His parents would flip if they were to see her!

"I wanted to see the view you had," Sakura replied simply, as if this were a normal occurrence for her, "And I must say, it's a pretty good one. I mean, from this seat, you can see my bed perfectly. From around your door, you can almost see my bathroom."

"So let me get this straight, you came over here, snuck into my yard, climbed up the side of my house onto my roof, and lowered yourself onto my balcony just to see what type of view I had?" His mind filled with thoughts, this really couldn't be the only reason she had come over, at least some part of him hoped it wasn't.

"No."

Sasuke couldn't figure this girl out for the life of him. She was confident, yet shy and introverted. She was wild and crazy, yet conservative at the same time. And then on top of it all, she lied to his face, then told him the truth just as easily. He frowned, "Then what do you want?"

This time it was Sakura's turn to frown, "That's no way to treat a guest, Chicken Butt!"

"You've got to stop calling me that. I've already told you, my name is Sasuke, not Chicken Butt," Sasuke crossed his arms, standing at the doorway to his room just incase he felt the need to shut the door and block her out. He couldn't help but notice how the corners of Sakura's mouth lifted up as she smiled at his retort.  
>"Look, you read my poem, you can kinda tell I'm a wicked mess. I read yours, I can kinda tell that you're almost as much of a mess as I am. I'm new, and I kinda figured you might wanna bond over how fucked up we are," Sakura answered him and Sasuke could tell she was being honest. "And I brought the good stuff!" Sakura lifted a bottle of liquor out of her bag along with two shot glasses.<p>

Sasuke smirked and sat down. He never really had so much of a conversation as this with a female other than family or teachers. It was different for him, but the sight of of the alcohol changed his mind completely. "You know you probably won't have any of that left by the end of the night, right? I enjoy to drink."

"I figured as much, but as you could probably have guessed from my appearance last night, I myself also enjoy indulging in the forbidden," Sakura smiled, no sign of the blush that Sasuke had felt she would show when bringing up the previous night. "So confidence now, when will the embarrassment happen?" Sasuke thought to himself, taking the shot from her, downing it all but immediately after it was handed to him.

"What I indulge in is forbidden now, but I'm guessing you enjoy the overall forbidden more than you should," He said, reaching for the bottle that Sakura had placed the open bottle on the stand between the two of them and Sasuke grabbed it, filling his shot glass again, throwing it back, feeling the burn in his throat, loving it.

"Maybe, but regardless, the point of the matter is we both have our own vices to help out in times of stress," She downed her second shot as well, mentally going shot for shot with the male. She knew she could, it was just the point of the matter if he knew she could.

There was a silence between the two for a few minutes. Sakura rested her feet on the balcony , her long bohemian skirt falling back as her boots, knees and some of her thighs were revealed. Sasuke watched out of the corner of his eyes as the girl didn't show a care in the world about her body being exposed like it was. She wore outfits to school that showed off her body and skin, obviously a little more didn't bother her. He watched as she closed her eyes, lowering her entire body on the chair, her skirt coming up more as she tilted her head back on the neck of the chair.

Sasuke took in the look of her body once more. The way she had situated her head, her neck was exposed, vulnerable for the taking. With the alcohol in his system, he was half tempted to kiss her. Until her skirt lifted more, showing a deep scar on her upper thigh.

"What's that?"

"Hmm?" Sakura's eyes opened, looking at him, following the invisible line his obsidian eyes make to her legs. "Oh. One of the reasons why I'm here."

"What do you mean?"

Sakura closed her eyes again, moving her head back into the position she found comfortable, "It's a long story."

"I've got time," Sasuke didn't know why he felt like he needed to know, but he had to.

Sakura leaned to grab the bottle, taking a swig directly from it, placing it back on the table between the two, "I'm a foster child. Rikana is my current foster mother. I originally got put in the system when I was 9. My mom left my dad when I was really young. Dad had a drinking problem, and he loved himself some easy women. The only problem with easy women is that they aren't fond of children. So I found myself being neglected so Dad could go participate in those activities. Well then he actually started steadily seeing a woman. I thought things would get better, I mean, how could my dad hide me when she was moving in with us? Then my dad started keeping me strapped in my bed in my room. I would thrash about wildly, trying to escape, but it didn't really work so well. Anyway, one day, his girlfriend came into my room when dad wasn't home and found me. She freaked out, called the police and I got put in foster care. The scar is from the straps he used to keep me in my bed." She paused, taking another drink from the bottle, "But that's the far past, and I try my best to avoid it if I can."

Sasuke didn't realize the amount that this small girl had been through. She looked so strong, like she could even kick his ass, given enough of a reason and a passion behind her. "Wow," was the only thing he was able to get out of his mouth.

"Close your mouth, you're going to let the flies in," Sakura paused, watching him close his mouth, "Seriously though, that's too far in the past to really let it bug me. I'm here now and there isn't a thing I can do to change it. I've known since that happened that there was no point in asking myself what if it never happened, because it did, and there was nothing I could ever do to change the outcome. People who do foster care only do to either get the adorable babies or the money, and considering I wasn't a baby, it was the money. They'd keep me around until they either got bored or I did something they just couldn't handle and I'd get shipped off to the next house. Rikana is my 6th foster mother in a little over 7 years. She's not bad. She works a lot, I think she's probably the only foster parent I ever met who doesn't do it for the money, she just wants to help since she was once a foster kid. She let's me do what I want, doesn't complain much when I come in late or wear what I want like the others. She's a good lady, but I know sooner than later, she'll ship me off just like the rest of them."

Sasuke took in her story, pouring himself another shot and downing it with ease. He could feel the alcohol purging in on his thoughts, but he didn't care too much, "What did you do to end up getting put with her?"

"That story, Sasuke, I don't care to tell. Maybe if I'm here long enough. But I can tell you it's not what you think. It's not because of my favorite illegal activities," She paused, "That was the house before."

They sat in silence again before Sakura spoke up, "Now that you know my life, how about you tell me about yourself?"

Sasuke had downed another two shots, his tongue becoming free from his normally sober thoughts, "My parents want me to be like my brother. I fail, I get beat. I can't ever really do what I want. I just go to all the clubs and teams they sign me up for, do my homework and sit in my room. I'm not really allowed to go out much unless I say it's for a team." Sasuke knew that she wanted more from him, but this was all even his inebriated self would allow to be told.

Sakura leaned over, grabbing the bottle, tightening the lid and shoving it in her bag. She stood up, her eyes forcefully meeting Sasukes, "I meant what I wrote on your poem. Don't let them take you away from yourself. You're better than your brother and if they can't see that, they don't deserve you as their son."

With those final words, she jumped up on the railing, quickly leaving to the roof and Sasuke could hear her shimmying down the side trellis. He saw her walking back across the street and going inside the house.

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><p><strong>So yeah, we have some more back story &amp; Sasuke seems to be pining a little after something foreign to him. ;)<strong>

**Once again, I do have a one shot(with lemonygoodness) posted (By the Lake) and I'm hoping for more ideas for some lemony one shots to hit me. If you have one you'd like to see done, PM me and I'll see what I can do!**


	7. Oh, Sweet Baby!

**To the reviewer Guest(who reviewed on chapter 6): I understand these they are OOC. Sometimes it's good to change certain things about a character to make a story what it's supposed to be. I mentioned in my first A/N that Sakura wouldn't be portrayed as she normally is. This is an AU story, which would change things about a character. If you grew up in a different situation than what you did, you would also be different. Please keep this in mind while reading.**

**When I write, a lot of the things that have happened in my life are portrayed through my words. I've dealt with stuff similar if not the same to this, that's what makes this story special to me and why I felt the urge to write it. A lot of people deal with subjects listed in my story, I being one of them. If that bothers you, please don't continue reading my story because I don't want to be told that my work isn't good just because of something like that. Almost every other story on here the characters are a bit OOC. It's to be expected.**

**Nerd94: Where do you want me to search AV and what exactly is it? Thank you again for your review. I know that some chapters are shorter than others, but it's simply because of the lines I have set up. **

**That being said, please enjoy this chapter.**

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><p>Over the next few days, it continued like this. Sakura would watch the soccer players from the roof of the school, enjoying the view of Sasuke, especially, and then leave as they were coming in. Sasuke would see her and make a slight smirk to himself. He would go home and eat dinner, then go to his room to find Sakura on his balcony with a bottle.<p>

Sometimes they just drank in silence. Sometimes they would briefly talk. Sasuke didn't know why he let this continue to happen, but he assumed it had to do with the fact that she truly didn't annoy him as much as other people did. She knew the right times to talk and when not to. The pink-haired girl had seen and been through a lot and they were almost identical in their recluse.

He didn't know what had inclined him to do so the first night after she came to the balcony with the bottle, but each night, before he went to bed, Sasuke would turn off his light and look out, off the balcony, as hidden as possible, to make sure Sakura was safe in her room. He had figured out she did drugs, and even though they weren't the best of friends, it brought him comfort to see her in her bed or in her room at night and not running around the streets, looking behind her back suspiciously like she had the first night he saw her.

Sasuke sat in Literature on Friday morning, thinking of how after the soccer game that night, he had the whole weekend to relax, not to worry about grades, soccer or anything. Maybe he could pull out his guitar since he didn't have a drumset at home. The idea of playing any instrument was enticing to him. He almost lost himself in a daydream when he watched Sakura enter the room in yet another one of her unusual outfits. Today she had chosen on a purple cut off vest that hugged her curves somewhat perfectly, a mid-thigh black skirt that also hugged her body, and of course, her combat boots.

Sakura's headphones covered her ears as she entered the room, her eyes meeting his obsidian ones, nodding so slightly that any other student wouldn't be able to notice it was towards him. He let a miniscule smirk leave his lips in return, their way of saying hello to one another. Sakura had gathered from her approaching his desk that he wasn't exactly fond of big displays of conversation. Even if it was just some drinks after school and some light conversation, Sasuke was the closest thing she had to a friend at this new school and she wasn't doing anything to jeopardize that. It made it easier to go without her much craved upper.

In her next few classes, she lightly listened to the dribble that escaped her teachers' mouths, indulging herself in some light writing during the courses. As the bell for lunch rang, she left the room and decided to walk around. She found herself coming to a door that she hadn't entered before. She peeked in, only to find the room empty and fully emerged herself into it. Looking around she could tell it was the band room.

"Oh, sweet baby!"

In the cafeteria, Sasuke finished his food, excusing himself and making his way to the second floor. He stopped by the landing, to find the window shut and no Sakura. He shook his head, figuring she might have made it into the cafeteria without his seeing her, and eaten her lunch there for once.

As Sasuke approached the room he sought out, he opened the door, music coming to his ears from inside. He knew that there weren't any personal lessons during lunch and opened the door the rest of the way to figure out what was going on. As he stepped in, the music stopped, he laid his books down on the table next to him. Sasuke was about to turn the small corner in the room when the music started again, note by note being accentuated. He looked around the corner to see Sakura playing on the marimba. She hadn't taken notice to him, so he went back around the corner, entering the office and grabbing a guitar.

Sasuke had recognized the song once she started it and he knew the guitar part. He had never heard the piano part played on a marimba before, but it sounded beautiful. Never in a million years would he have guessed that she played the mallet instruments. This girl was always taking him by surprise. He plugged the guitar in, not yet turning the amp on, as he didn't want Sakura to know he was there yet.

Sakura stopped playing the song and started another that Sasuke also knew. He smiled, knowing the guitar part for this song even better than the first, it was one of his favorite songs, after all. He listened to her play the first few measures before switching on the guitar suddenly and joining her. He watched the shock in her face as she realized what was happening. As her eyes met his, she let a small smile appear on her face as she continued to play.

Sasuke had never expected what happened next. As the music lifted for the vocals, he was surprised to hear his duet partner singing.

_Baptized, with a perfect name_  
><em>The doubting one by heart<em>  
><em>Alone without himself<em>

Her voice was soft, but somehow powerful and commanding. She hit the notes perfectly, high or low. He listened as she sang the words, knowing if his eyes were closed, he would honestly think he was at a concert. As the guitar lifted, she played the string of notes the piano hit and came back with more power than before.

_Caress the one, the Never Fading_  
><em>Rain in your heart, the tears of snow white sorrow<em>  
><em>Caress the one, the hiding amaranth<em>  
><em>In a land of the daybreak<em>

After the two completed the song, Sasuke set down the guitar, turning the amp off. He walked forward, setting down at the piano, playing another song. He looked at her, trying to figure out if she knew what he was doing. She nodded her head, moving to stand next to the piano, arms resting on the top. She took her cue.

_This is me for forever_  
><em>One of the lost ones<em>  
><em>The one without a name<em>  
><em>Without an honest heart as compass<em>  
><em>This is me for forever<em>  
><em>One without a name<em>  
><em>These lines the last endeavor<em>  
><em>To find the missing lifeline<em>

Sasuke listened to her soft voice, adjusting to the song change, once again, never missing a beat. He transposed the music in his head as he played, adjusting the guitar part to piano.

_Oh, how I wish for soothing rain_  
><em>All I wish is to dream again<em>  
><em>My loving heart lost in the dark<em>  
><em>For hope I'd give my everything<em>

His eyes opened in shock as her voice took on a note higher than he imagined she could possibly hit. One second she's singing a song for an alto, the next a soprano? Next thing he knew, she'd end up singing opera, this girl, always surprising him. They finished the second song and Sasuke sat at the piano bench, thinking of the words to say.

"How many instruments do you play?" Sakura interrupted his thoughts, starting the conversation herself.

"Pretty much all of them," He let his fingers quietly play a melody as a way to somewhat distract himself, "You?"

"Only percussion," She paused, "My favorite is the vibraphone."

He nodded, "Your voice is an instrument too."

"I guess," Sakura took in what he said, "How do you know how to play all of these?"

"Music is my passion," He turned around on the bench, standing up, knowing his time in the room was almost up, "You're a really good musician and singer, Sakura."

Sakura was almost shocked by the words, not only did he compliment her, he used her name, "Yeah, well you're amazing. Being able to easily go between instruments like that."

"Hn." Sasuke smirked at her as the bell rang and he left the room.

Even though he knew there was something different about the girl than most, and even though he had seen her play and heard her voice, he still found it hard to believe it was really her. He never expected that from her. Sasuke shook his head out, clearing his thoughts as he went through the rest of his day, approaching the hour of his soccer game.

He arrived home to his parents at the table inquiring about the game. He gave them the news that they had won, himself scoring the final goal. He thought he'd receive praise, only to be asked if that was the only goal he scored. He sighed, finishing his dinner and excusing himself. There was no way he was spending another minute downstairs. He had watched his father pouring his third glass of scotch by the time he tried to excuse himself.

"Sasuke, just wait," His mother stopped him from leaving the table.

"Yes?" His eyes met with his mother's soft ones.

"I'll be driving your father and I out to your brothers home after he finishes dinner. We will be gone until Monday morning. There are plenty of groceries in the refrigerator and money on the kitchen island if you really need it," her voice was softer than normal, "Your brother really needs us right now, he's going through some issues."

Sasuke nodded, "Thank you for letting me know, mother. Can I now be excused?" His mother nodded in return and he got up, heading up the stairs.

Once in his room, he locked the door and opened the balcony door. As he stuck his head out, he noticed there was no Sakura. He shrugged his shoulders, leaving it open and heading for the shower he so desperately craved.

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><p><strong>I'll leave you all with this. The next chapter is definitely going to get a little dirty. ;]<strong>

**It won't be much, but it'll be enough to make you want more!**

**If anyone could take the time to read this article, you might understand a little more about my story. **

** /2014/02/24/the-heartbreak-of-foster-care/**


	8. Wet

Sasuke reluctantly turned the shower off, letting the final reminiscence of the hot water roll off his body. He shook out his raven hair and grabbed his towel, wrapping it around his lower body. He stepped out into his room, walking to his dresser. Midway through grabbing boxers and shorts, he stopped, dead in his tracks, mouth falling open.

"What are you doing in here?!" Sasuke stared at the pink haired girl, who was sitting on his bed.

Sakura produced a sly smile on her face, "I brought over my finest bottle of tequila in celebration of you scoring the winning goal. I guess I was running later than I thought when I jumped down on the balcony and you weren't there. I peeked inside to find you, so I figured I'd wait. Here I thought you'd be happy for this beautiful bottle!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the girl, "Just, go outside on the balcony and wait for me."

"Oh, I think I'd much rather watch the show," Sakura's smile became even bigger as she watched the deep blush fall onto his cheeks. She loved when she could make a male blush like that. It made her feel seductive.

Sasuke grabbed his boxers and shorts, rolling his eyes and walking back to his bathroom to get changed. He couldn't help but keep the blush while thinking about what she had said. There was only a thin door between them when his mind kept picturing what she looked like, her purple vest and tight black mini-skirt hugging her body in all the right ways. Never before had his mind been so easily wrapped around a female.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" He muttered to himself before tying his drawstring and walking out of the bathroom once again.

To his surprised Sakura was no longer there. He didn't think that she would actually go back out to the balcony, but apparently she had. He walked onto the outdoor platform to find Sakura with her seemingly long pale legs stretched out, feet once again on the railing. She had thrown some limes and salt out next to the shot glasses and bottle of tequila.

"Ready for your celebratory shot?" She moved slightly in her seat, her legs coming down from the railing and flattening on the wooden floor. Sasuke nodded and watched as Sakura filled the glasses, handing one to him, "Cheers." She downed the shot, shaking her head slightly, then brought her finger to her mouth, licking it and dipping it in the salt, then back to her mouth before biting into a lime wedge. She looked up, realizing he hadn't done his shot and smiled again, "It's your turn Mr. Hot Shot."

Sasuke repeated what she had done, his head shaking much more violently after the alcohol went down his throat. He paused for a second after biting his lime wedge and looked Sakura in the eyes, "And this is why my dad doesn't buy tequila."

The girl smirked and downed another, following the salt and lime practice after swallowing the the liquor, her eyes never leaving his, "You and your dad must be lightweights." She was hoping he would take this as a challenge and he did.

As the night went on, they went shot for shot, trying to see who would cave first, Sasuke believed they were at seven each. Sakura was feeling the effects of the alcohol throughout her body, "I've got to go to the bathroom."

Sasuke laughed at her, finding this somehow hilarious, "It's connected to my bedroom."

Sakura got up and used the restroom. On her way out, she spotted Sasuke's bed. It looked so soft and fluffy that in her drunken state, she didn't care. She took her shoes off, and climbed onto the soft black sheets. Sasuke walked inside, laughing at her rolling around on his bed. Her eyes met his and she stopped rolling, "Dude, dude, your bed, is soooo comfy!" She smiled and she rolled some more.

Sasuke walked over, pushing her away, and laying down on the bed as well, his head turned to look at her, "I know."

Sakura rolled over onto her side, her green eyes bright, "What do you want to do when you graduate?"

"I've told you before, it doesn't matter what I want. It's what they want."

"I didn't ask you that. I asked what you wanted. If they didn't have a choice in the matter, what would you want to do?"

"I want to write music, teach music, play music. Anything with music and I'd be happy," Sasuke watched the small smile forming on her mouth, "What?"

"I was guessing you'd say that. If you had your own band, I'd totally go see you. You can certainly command the presence when you're playing."

"Hn." Sasuke looked up onto his ceiling, deep in thought. The sun had gone down and the room was darker. He found himself slowly drifting off to sleep.

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><p>The next morning Sasuke opened his eyes due to the blinding sun searing into them. His head throbbed heavily and he groaned. He felt his bed shift and he sat up, looking at the figure next to him. Her pink hair cascaded over the dark black pillowcase, the contrast catching his eye. <em>"What the hell happened last night?!"<em> Sasuke let his mind wander in panic, trying to remember any detail after his shower and their first two rounds of shots. The tequila must have been stronger than he thought it was.

He watched as Sakura rolled over, now facing him, but still fast asleep. They were both laying on top of the sheets, and Sasuke looked at her appearance. Her one knee mixed high sock she wore under her boots had fallen down around her ankle and the other still at her knee, her legs curved into her. The black mini-skirt she had worn was now bunched up, the scar on her upper thigh showing and he could see the curve of the pale flesh of her bare backside from the way he was sitting. He felt the heat rising to his cheeks as he continued to stare at her appearance. Her one arm under her head, the other laying in front of her flat stomach. Two buttons on her already low cut vest had come undone in the night and he could see the pale flesh from under it showing through.

Sasuke took in the sight of her chest, basically bared to him. She wasn't wearing a bra under the vest, but he couldn't say he was surprised. Her outfits normally didn't show the normal signs of a bra. He thought about it for a second, realizing how perky her breasts were for their size and the lack of a bra. Soon Sakura stirred again, her chest being completely exposed to him. He quickly got up, throwing the blankets from his half of the bed over her exposed skin, grabbing his clothing and went into the bathroom.

"Cold water, cold water," Sasuke mumbled to himself like a mantra. He stripped himself of his clothing, jumping into the cold shower, hoping it would calm down the protrusion coming from his lower body.

It was futile, his mind kept going back to the way her parted lips looked, her wild unkempt hair, the way her body curved. Sasuke switched the water from cold to warm, realizing what had to be done, for the cold water didn't help him at all. Sure, he knew he didn't have time for girls, but that didn't mean that he didn't get the urges other hormonal teenage boys did.

His eyes closed under the cascade of the water, grabbing himself while envisioning the site out on his bed. He imagined what it would be like to touch her, his cheeks growing pink once again, the pressure inside of him burning and building.

"Hey Sasuke, sorry, I can't make it to Rikana's and this is the only bathroom I know! I've got to pee!" Sakura's voice cut into this thoughts, shocking him.

"What are you doing?" He shouted as he heard the door close, he peeked his head out of the shower curtain, looking at the girl.

"Hey, you keep your head in there, and I'll keep mine out here!" She pushed his forehead back into the shower before walking past it and using his toilet.

"Really? You couldn't make it across the street really quick to go? You had to come in here when I'm showering?" He had turned his face to the side wall of the shower, terrified she would open the curtain and see his compromising position.

Sakura laughed loudly, "No, I really couldn't. I'm sorry, but I really wasn't expecting to drink enough to pass out in your bed. It's not like you should have anything to hide." Sakura had finished using the restroom, but was enjoying the uncomfortable tone in his voice. She knew in the shower his cheeks would be inflamed with a blush.

"What is that supposed to mean?" The sudden distraction and their conversation had caused his protrusion to go away, and he continued his shower, as if nothing was wrong.

"Oh come on! Mr. 6-pack abs. You and I both know that you have a body and you aren't afraid to show it," Sasuke heard her giggle lightly.

"Like you're one to talk? You walk around with your stomach out 9 times out of 10! You know how to display your body and you know how guys react."

The next thing he knew, Sakura's head was inside the shower, looking up at him, "Oh? So does that mean you like my body?"

Sasuke's cheeks turned an even brighter shade of pinkish red, and he yelled, "Hey, get out!"

Sakura kept her eyes on Sasukes. She didn't care to see him naked, at least not now, right now, she wanted to make that blush even brighter. She stepped up and into the shower, letting the water soak her, getting closer to him by the second. "Shhh, you don't wanna alarm mommy and daddy, now do you? Come in and find a girl in the shower with you!"

Although Sasuke knew very well his parents weren't even in town, he kept his mouth shut, not wanting the girl to know. He watched as she kept her eyes on his face, grabbing his hands and putting them around her, now wet, waist. "So I know how to display my body? I know how guys react?" She inched her face closer to him, watching his cheeks get redder by the second.

She used a soft, seductive voice now, "Sasuke, it's okay, I know what you were doing here. I woke up, my vest came undone. You were thinking about my chest, touching me, feeling yourself." Sasuke felt like his cheeks were burning, as she moved his hand up her side, touching her breast on the outside of her vest. She reached up on her tippy toes and kissed his lips softly, feeling the heat as her free hand touched his cheek.

With that she climbed out of the shower, opening the door, "See ya, Sasuke!" She smiled to herself as she walked out of the bathroom. She grabbed her shoes, throwing them off the balcony, climbing up onto the roof and down the side of the house, picking up the shoes and walking across the street to the house and her bedroom.

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><p><strong>So I hope you enjoyed the little bit of naughty naughty I included in this chapter. I'm not quite ready for much more in the story between these two, but soon.<strong>

**I must say, I enjoy making Sakura the strong one here and Sasuke more of the inexperienced/sexually reserved one. Obviously, from Sakura's flashbacks, we know she's done things before. Sasuke on the other time, has always felt like he doesn't have the time. Plus I've been rereading & rewatching(yes, both. I watch when I crochet and I read when my fiance is asleep and I don't want the noise to wake him) from the VERY beginning and all of the small blushes I missed the first two times around! Oh my goodness! **

**Anywayyy, if you guys haven't checked it out, I do have a one shot(with lemonygoodness) posted(By the Lake) and I'm hoping to come up with another good story line for another one shot. If you have any ideas for one shots you'd like to see me do, send me a PM and I'd LOVE to write some up!**


	9. Repaying the Visit

Sakura laughed to herself the whole way up to her bedroom, the look on Sasuke's face imbedded into her brain. She had always been the type of person to do random spontaneous things when the situation either called for them, or the person did. She always felt like people needed to express themselves more if they have the chance. Sure, she was pretty hidden of herself in certain situations, but she never hid how she felt about anything.

Sakura pushed her bedroom door open, dropping her shoes off right next to the door and turning around to lock it. She assumed Rikana was working since the house was empty once again, but you never knew when someone was going to just barge into your room.

She walked over to her mirror and laughed at how soaked she was. She was drenched from her head down to her socks, but it was worth the look on Sasuke's face. The moment she walked into the bathroom, she knew something was up. Then when sitting on his toilet, she realized what was happening, thanks to the shadow from inside the shower.

She couldn't completely blame him though, it wasn't his fault her vest came undone while she was passed out drunk. _"I should really wear underwear more often…"_ Sakura thought to herself, realizing none of it would have happened if she didn't loathe the pretty much useless pieces of clothing.

Sakura tore the wet clothes from her body, tossing them to the floor, walking to her bathroom. She left the door half open for extra light in the dim bathroom. She plugged the tub, turning the taps on for the hottest water her body could stand. She added bubbles, waiting to relax in her soak after the week at school. She put her iPod into a player and turned the speakers on, humming along to the song as she lowered her body into the water.

As Sakura relaxed, humming the song softly, she lowered her body further into the water, letting it encompass her body. She sat in that same position for the greater majority of the song, enjoying herself. She ducked her head deep into the water, wetting her hair. She came up, listening to the long intro to the new song playing on her iPod , washing herself in the bubble bath. She unplugged the bathtub, standing up and grabbing a towel from the rack next to the tub, wrapping it around herself.

Sakura walked out of the bathroom door, past the open window giving her bedroom a wonderful breeze and stopped dead in her tracks, smiling.

"Repaying the visit?" She addressed her question to Sasuke, promptly sitting on her bed the way she had the previous evening.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" He stood, walking towards the dripping wet girl only covered with a small towel.

"What the fuck is wrong with me? There's lots of stuff wrong with me. But you're going to have to narrow it down for me to give you a definite answer." He didn't look as uncomfortable as she had hoped he would when she informed him he'd have to speak of what she already knew he was questioning.

"You know what," His eyes glared into her.

"Like I said, be more specific," She walked past his standing figure to her dresser drawer, grabbing clothing from two separate drawers, sitting it on her bed, turning back towards Sasuke, who had yet to answer her. "I'm waiting."

"What makes you think you can just waltz into my bathroom while I'm showering and then jump in with me?" Sakura could have sworn for a few seconds she saw a light blush come to his face, but it was gone already.

"Well you never really said I couldn't," She paused, making a loose gesture, "You might wanna turn around."

"What?" His eyes bore into hers, angry she was trying to distract him from the subject at hand.

"Turn around, I'm getting dressed," She turned back to her bed, grabbing one of the articles of clothing.

"You're not serious." There was no way she would even think about changing in the same room, was there?

"I am serious. It's my bedroom, my body. I really could give two fucks less. I've had to share rooms with 4 other people before and it really doesn't bother me. But seeing the blush you got when I got in the shower with you, and the one I'm almost 100% positive you go when I flashed you while I was drunk, I think you're more uncomfortable that I would ever be. So you're decision. You have about two seconds before I drop this towel."

Sasuke promptly turned around and he heard the towel drop. Apparently she really was serious. This girl was really something else. He felt her walk past him as she walked to her mirror, grabbing a hair brush to tame her wet hair. He took in the sight in front of him. Sakura was wearing the most normal outfit he had seen her in thus far. Plain black shorts and a red cami. He was shocked to see her covering her stomach for once.

"You never actually answered me," He stated as he saw her put stuff from her normal side bag into a mini backpack.

"I just felt like it. I dunno. Don't think too much into it, Chicken Butt," she walked past him, bag in tow, to her bed. She sat down and put on socks and converse.

"No boots today?" Sasuke had let the words slip before he realized he was admitting to acknowledging what she wore.

Sakura smirked, "These dry easier if I fall in."

"Fall in where?" Without trying, he was starting a conversation with Sakura, genuinely curious what she was talking about.

"If you wanna know, follow me." With that she stood, mini bag still in tow, slightly shutting her window, then walking out her bedroom door.

"Isn't Rikana going to ask why I'm walking out of your bedroom?"

"She's not here. She works way too much to even take notice. She'd probably think you were just a figment of her sleep deprived brain." Now down on the first floor, Sakura stopped at the refrigerator, removing two reuseable water bottles. She tossed one at the unsuspecting Sasuke, who caught it with ease. "Shouldn't you like, double check with your parents or something so they don't freak out?"

"They're out."

"Leave a note?" She still remembered his poem. Understood his words. She didn't want him to get in trouble just for coming out with her. Sakura watched as Sasuke shook his head, and she shrugged off the feeling, he knew what was best for himself.

As Sasuke walked next to Sakura, going wherever the fuck she was taking them, he couldn't help but notice how weird it was to see her looking, well… normal. He had grown accustomed to her unusual style of clothing and he actually kind of enjoyed it. She wasn't like everyone else. She knew who she was. He appreciated that, mainly because it was something he himself couldn't accomplish and didn't think he ever could.

"So are you ever going to tell me anymore about your brother that you seem to resent so much?" She didn't move her face to look at him, just incase he was glaring, she wasn't particularly in the mood to feel like a child about to be punished.

"It's not that I resent him. I resent what my parents make him out to be." They walked in silence for a few minutes before he continued. "We were really close when I was younger."

"What happened?"

"He went to law school. My parents wanted him in business. Now I have to," Sasuke really didn't know why he was giving this information to this girl he barely knew. Why did it feel so right to tell her?

"You don't have to, you know. You don't have to stay under their bind forever. You can get away, and I for one, wouldn't blame you. You have the skills to do what you want, indulge yourself. Do what you want," At the beginning of her speech, Sakura had stopped, staring Sasuke dead in the eyes. When she told him to do what he wanted, she poked the middle of his chest, and hard.

"It's not that simple."

"Why not?"

"I'll never be able to get into a college without their money," If it was one thing his parents were useful for, it was their money.

Sakura cut down an alleyway he knew led closer to the outskirts of town. Where was she taking him? Better yet, why did he seriously decide to go along? After a few minutes, Sakura cut the silence, "A smart kid like you must have good grades."

"They're up there…"

"So good grades, extracurriculars, I'm assuming a sparkling record, both criminal and at school. Apply for a scholarship. Fuck your parents. I'm telling you, you don't need them to get where you want. But anyway, we're soon going to be going through some brush, so watch where I step so you don't get poison ivy."

"Hn."

Sakura rolled her eyes at Sasuke's response and trekked on through the bushes.

"Seriously, where are we going?"

"You'll see in a minute," Her voice left off that of being annoyed, but he pushed that to the back of his mind.

After walking a few more steps, Sakura stopped. Sasuke would have ran into her if he didn't notice her feet stop. He had been intently following them to avoid the poison ivy. He had the stuff once when he was younger and he never wanted to experience that again.

Sasuke looked up and was in awe. He had lived here his whole life and never had he seen this. In front of them there was a gorgeous creek, the water flowing loudly. There were rocks to the left and right and the trees let in a lattice of sunlight to fall over the gorgeous landscape.

Sakura looked at him, smiling, "Nice, isn't it?"

"Mm."

She ignored his half hearted answer, "I found it on my first night here. It's pretty secluded. I love the way it sounds."

"But why are did you come here?"

"Enjoy the scenery?"

Sasuke snorted, "Really?"

Sakura laughed, "Nah. It's just a nice place away from people to smoke some reefer."

She walked over to a decent sized rock, sitting down and removing her bag from her back. She pulled out a small baggie which pre-rolled joints inside. She looked up at Sasuke, who was visibly shocked, patting the spot next to her. He reluctantly joined her.

"Ever smoke before?" She asked, lighting the joint between her lips, inhaling deeply. Sasuke shook his head, "Wanna try?"

Sasuke pondered it for a moment. He did wanna try it, but he was slightly afraid of the consequences of smoking the herb.

"Seriously, I won't let you get high enough that your parents will notice. I'll keep an eye on you," She raised three fingers, "Scouts honor."

"My parents aren't even home to care," Sasuke said as he snatched the joint from her.

"Then go for it," Sakura watched as he put it up to his lips, "Okay, you wanna take your first hit easy since it's your first time. Inhale lightly, move the joint and inhale again to get the smoke in your mouth into your lungs. And then hold it as long as you can."

She watched him do what she said, remembering her first time smoking. As Sasuke exhaled he coughed loudly.  
>"Why do you do that! It kinda hurts," He said, handing the joint back to her.<p>

"Oh you'll see in a few minutes," She smiled at him, taking another hit for herself, "Just hopefully you don't get a paranoid high."

Sasuke could feel the shift as his muscles relaxed and he felt calmer. He didn't think it was bad at all. He reached over and took the joint right from Sakura's mouth, inhaling like he had the first time. She laughed loudly, watching him hit it.

"I knew you would like it. Better relax than drinking," She pulled out a cigarette, lighting it, letting it add to her high. She always felt like the nicotine helped her high. It was probably in her head, but she didn't care.

"This isn't too bad," Sasuke felt himself relaxing more and more by the second, realizing this was actually enjoyable. He and Sakura passed the joint back and forth in an amiable silence until the end of the joint. She pulled a bag of chips out of her bag, opening them and offering some to Sasuke.

"I dunno if I actually get the munchies anymore, I'm just so used to having a snack when I smoke weed that I just do it now."

Sasuke took the bag, nibbling on some chips. Sakura took her iPod out, letting the music play from the speakers on shuffle. She untied her high tops and took off her socks, walking down to the water, splashing some over her face.

"I don't think I've felt this relaxed in years," Sasuke thought out loud, slightly shocked the words came out of his mouth.

"It's nice to be relaxed, isn't it?"

He nodded.

"Take your shoes off. This water feels amazing," Sakura turned around, walking up stream, bending down and splashing water around. "I'm so glad I found this spot. I feel like a worry free child."

Sasuke started to untie his shoes, the song changing. He never expected to hear Sakura listen to a band like this from the previous songs he had heard her listen to it seemed a little too light for her taste. But then again, this girl was always doing something he didn't suspect. He walked down to the water, listening to the music lift a little, Sakura joining in to the lyrics.

_Hurtful words,  
>From my enemies of the last five years,<br>What's it like to die alone?  
>And how does it feel when tears freeze,<br>When you cry?  
>The blood in your veins is twenty below.<br>Sitting in this room playing Russian roulette,  
>Finger on the trigger to my dear Juliet,<br>Out from the window see her back drop silhouette,  
>This blood on my hands is something I cannot forget,<br>Sitting in this room playing Russian roulette,  
>Finger on the trigger to my dear Juliet,<br>Out from the window see her back drop silhouette,  
>This blood on my hands is something I cannot forget,<br>Something I cannot forget._

Sasuke wished he had his guitar to join her in the song. He loved this band.

_So for now, take this down a notch,  
>Crash my car through your window,<br>Make sure you're still alive,  
>Just in time to kill you,<br>Sitting in this room playing Russian roulette,  
>Finger on the trigger to my dear Juliet,<br>Out from the window see her back drop silhouette,  
>This blood on my hands is something I cannot forget,<br>Sitting in this room playing Russian roulette,  
>Finger on the trigger to my dear Juliet,<br>Out from the window see her back drop silhouette,  
>This blood on my hands is something I cannot forget,<br>Something I cannot forget._

"You've got a really beautiful voice," Sasuke was almost shocked at his honesty.

"Thanks. Perfect pitch." She turned around, smiling softly and in that moment Sasuke could do nothing but admire her beauty. She didn't have makeup on, her hair was still damp, and she was wearing a casual outfit. "I've already told you what I think of your playing."

"Mm. I never expected you to listen to Escape the Fate, they seem different from your taste of Nightwish."

"I love Nightwish. My favorite band. A few years ago another girl I was in foster with listened to a lot of Escape and I got used to them. When my ex saw them on my iPod he took me to see a concert of theirs. Then I got hooked. They're great live as well," She kicked at the water, "I just really love music. Pretty much if it's got good lyrics, and actual instruments, I listen to it."

"Nightwish is my favorite band too. The intricate rhythm and melodies from the first song I heard of theirs had me hooked."

"I should give you weed more often, Chicken Butt. You speak more. I like it."

A slight blush crept onto Sasuke's face. He felt out of character discussing these things with her, but it felt right at the same time. "If it's this calming, I might take you up on that offer."

Sakura walked out of the water, grabbing another joint out of her bag, then back to the small creek. After she inhaled and exhaled she passed it to Sasuke, "Want a really good hit?"

He cocked his head to the side, questioning her.

She took the joint from his hands before he could hit it once, "Open your mouth."

"What?" His eyes narrowed.

"Just trust me."

He sighed, opening his mouth, feeling like a complete imbecile. Sakura took a large hit, holding it, and walked up to him. She placed a soft hand on Sasuke's cheek, her mouth coming close to his like a kiss. He could feel his cheeks burning as she exhaled the smoke into his mouth.

"Inhale it."

Sasuke did as he was told. The smoke tasted different, sweeter somehow, and it went into his airways smooth. He knew his cheeks were still red as Sakura watched him exhale.

"Was it a good one?" He nodded. "Why do you blush so much when I get near you?"

Her honest question was pretty shocking, and Sasuke was almost entirely positive that his face lit up again, "I don't know."

"You're not used to close encounters with girls, cute." The way she said it as a matter of fact pissed him off.

"I never said that."

"I can tell. You remind me of myself before my ex. I was so awkward, I mean, I still am, but in a different way. Everything he said made me blush. That was until the mere thought of him made me want to stab him in the eye," She was spinning around in the water, kicking it up, splashing around, all while smoking the rolled herb in her hand. "I contribute most of my current issues to his nasty ass."

Sasuke couldn't help the curiosity that was building inside of him, "Why?"

"Honestly?" Sakura stopped spinning and looked him dead in the eyes, passing him the joint while he nodded, "To make a long story short, before I met him, yeah I drank and smoked weed here and there, but he introduced me to other things that were hard for me to break, or I still haven't. He tricked me into believing he actually gave a rats ass about me, only to find out for the majority of the year we were together he was fucking my one and only friend." Sakura continued on her rant, like she was reciting a memorized poem. "After I caught them, mind you- on our anniversary, someone told me that they heard that she had begged him to date me, I guess, to help me get out of my shell. Obviously it didn't work. She was fucking him before he even met me. Shows you how fucked in the head she was. I mean, I guess it's my fault for befriending and dating extreme addicts anyway. The wires don't fully connect in their brains. They don't realize the repercussions of their actions. The weed dulls the pain and relaxes me. Takes away the memories."

"What else do you do?" Something inside of Sasuke pulled at him to ask. He didn't know what made him feel like he had to protect this girl he barely knew, but he knew he had to help.

"Nothing really hard, anymore. I did coke once or twice, the drip was too awful for me, so I just didn't. LSD, a few times. That was the worst to break, never touch the stuff. But now I pretty much just stick with my weed and occasionally ecstasy. It brings me up, lightens my mood. Plus it makes everything just feel great. Although it's been a few days since I've had any." The girl was playing in the water as they kept passing the marijuana cigarette back and forth.

"Why?"

"The only guy I know who sells it lives in my old town. I had a stash I brought with me, but I went through it. I know I don't need it though, it just helps when the memories of him come back."

"Is he why you got kicked out of your last foster home?"

"Kinda...mostly," Their eyes met again and she stopped moving, putting her hands on her hips, "When I caught them, I smashed a bunch of shit in his crappy apartment on the way out, mainly the stuff I knew he kept because he could sell it to buy more drugs. And then while walking back, I saw her car and I fucked it up. About 3 months after that, I had a bad day, I ran into the bitch and I got a little crazy with some E. I took a little too much, got rushed to the hospital and got sent to rehab. They found traces of other stuff I had done, weed, some LSD and prescription pills, so I got shipped off. After I went through the program my previous foster family didn't want me anymore so they shipped me off here. They didn't care that I had taken drugs, they caught me before, just the rehab is what bothered them."

"Hn." Sasuke replied with his short, somewhat understandable, response without really thinking about it.

"Weed is non-addictive. It's just fun to relax. The only thing I still do that I was treated for was the E. But like I said, I'm out, so it's not really an issue."

They walked back to the rock, just listening to the music from Sakura's iPod for a few minutes.

"Honestly," She leaned closer to Sasuke, her emerald eyes piercing into his obsidian ones, "Being around you helps."

Sakura blushed slightly, something she hadn't done in over a year and a half. She touched her soft hand to his cheek and he didn't move away. She closed the gap between the two, her lips touching his.

* * *

><p><strong>Yup, totally doing that do you. :) So just so you guys know, most of the time I have a chapter written a few days before I post it, and I try to keep to a 3 time a week schedule. I do this because it gives me time to work through any block I might have and keep the suspense low for you guys.<strong>

**The next chapter will probably contain adult themes...just so you know. **


	10. Skin

Sasuke had no idea what was going on. One minute they were talking about Sakura's addictions and the next, his body had a mind of its' own. Never before had he known this primal need.

He was almost sure that everything his body did, his mind was at a loss to how. He didn't tell his hands to touch her waist, feeling the soft red tank top under his hands, bunching. He sure as hell didn't tell his head to tilt and push into the kiss. And he knew for a fact that he didn't give his mouth and tongue permission to fall into the kiss and kiss her back.

But at this moment in time, no matter how hard Sasuke told his body to stop and to pull away, it wouldn't. It's not that he wanted to pull away, it's that he wasn't sure what this was. In his stomach he felt a warm sensation and he knew that if this continued he'd be done for.

Sakura on the other hand, wouldn't stop herself. Feeling his hands roam on her sides, her tank top bunching slightly, allowing the possibility of those same hands touching her skin. Feeling his mouth against hers, his tongue against hers. It was driving her insane. She hadn't felt the fire in her pit for so long.

She pressed her body closer to his, and he responded in turn, letting his hands fall to the small of her back, finally touching her skin. A shiver ran down Sakura's back feeling the warmth of his hands on her back. Her hands tangled into his hair as she pulled her tongue back, biting his lower lip.

Sasuke let a moan escape him when Sakura bit his lip. He could feel his cheeks burning, the blush stronger than ever. He could feel her breasts pressed against his chest and his mind automatically went to what was beneath the thin fabric of her red tank top.

Sasuke was sure he had grown the willpower to pull away from the kiss, when he felt Sakura's soft hands touching his skin. The need to touch her became stronger as her fingers sent electric like shocks into his body. What was this girl doing to him?

Sakura ran her hands on his abs slowly, feeling every contour as she felt his hands roaming her back. She never would have expected to be here, in this moment with Sasuke after their first few meetings. He was normally so guarded and seemed to have such an opposition to females that she figured even if she did try, he'd push her away in a second.

The fact that he didn't and her thoughts of rejection were the exact opposite continued to keep the fire burning inside her burning strong. Sakura was almost sitting in his lap and wanted more than anything to breach the small space between the two.

As if he could read her mind, Sasuke pulled her forward onto his lap, her legs locking behind him. He tore his lips away from her and to her jawline, kissing her soft skin. _"What the hell am I doing?!"_ He thought to himself as he could feel Sakura shiver against his body. She could feel the swell through his pants.

"Sasuke." He faintly heard his name being said, but he couldn't pull himself away.

"Sasuke," This time he felt hands push his shoulders slightly back and he moved his mouth away from Sakura's jaw, his eyes meeting hers.

The pink on her face did nothing but want to make him want to move his mouth back. He felt like like a different being was controlling his wants, needs and actions.

"Look, I've been nothing but honest with you," Sakura started, "And that's the type of person I am. As much as I'm enjoying this, I don't think it's smart."

She moved herself off of him, onto the rock, the fire inside her slowly to her dismay, diminishing. Sasuke looked at her questioningly, his eyes begging her to continue her train of thought.

"I really like you, Sasuke. The fact that you're so introverted intrigues me. The small bit you've shared with me tells me so many unspoken stories about you. And your body language is the biggest of them all. You're not used to being this close to women."

"Where are you going with this?"

"You deserve to do this type of thing with someone who isn't as fucked up as me," with that Sakura stood up, grabbing her things and leaving the clearing barefooted.

* * *

><p>"What the fuck is wrong with me?" Sakura spoke to herself out loud in her frilly four post bed.<p>

She would love more than anything to have Sasuke take her. No matter what she did since she left the wooded area, she couldn't get daydreams of him out of her head. Him coming into her room, forcing her up against a wall, kissing her, taking her. Him throwing her onto her bed, smashing into her with such force, letting his frustrations out.

The last time her mind had been so overcome with these thoughts was before she let the asshole of an ex take her innocence. Rationally, in the woods, she knew she couldn't let Sasuke do what she was sure they were leading to, not completely knowing the full baggage. It wasn't fair. She knew that she would become connected to him, committed, it was who she was. And if he wasn't ready for that, it wasn't right to do.

She had tried taking a cold shower, even though she had just taken a relaxing bubble bath, to get the daydreams of intimacy with Sasuke out of her mind. It didn't work. So as she laid in her bed, the clock reading 12:04AM, she threw her face into her pillow, groaning loudly.

"What the fuck is seriously wrong with me?" She yelled, this time, into the pillow.

Across the street, Sasuke, was sitting on his bed, the thoughts of the afternoon also seeming to not be able to leave his brain. Sakura's soft, warm skin. Her short hair tickling the side of his face. Her smell.

He groaned outwardly trying to get the thoughts of the pink haired vixen out of his mind. He stood up and walked to his balcony, sitting down. He groaned again, realizing he could see Sakura perfectly, laying in her bed.

Her face was down into the pillow and he saw her arms flailing. "What the fuck?"

Sasuke continued to watch as Sakura rolled over, looking at the canopy over her bed. Her lips were moving as she talked to herself.

Since she had left him in the clearing, all he could think about was her, and more importantly, what she had said to him. What did she mean someone who isn't as fucked up as her. Was she not paying attention when he told her about his fucked up life? He accepted the fact that she had a hard past with some jackass who didn't treat her right. He accepted that she did drugs, and he hoped that if what she said was true, being around him, helped her cope, he was more than willing to stick around.

Sasuke really didn't know why, but he felt compelled to do anything he could to help the girl. The way they kissed earlier, his primal needs, they only made him feel like everything he was doing was right.

Even though he had always thought he didn't have time for girls, something about this one made him feel like he could make the time. She was right when she said she had been nothing but honest with him. She opened herself up and told him who she was. It was absolutely alluring to know these things about her and still have that feeling in his gut.

As Sasuke watched Sakura, he watched her fall asleep, finally finding some peace in rest. _"If only I were that lucky…"_ he thought to himself. It wasn't new for him to check to see Sakura in bed, after their first few days of drinking on the balcony, he wanted to make sure she was okay and didn't get too high somewhere, getting lost.

Sasuke watched as she rolled over, throwing the blankets off of her in her sleep, apparently too hot. His eyes widened as he saw her laying there, naked, the feeling inside him growing once again. This was too much.

He couldn't contain his eyes, looking at the sight. She looked like a pink haired angel in her sleep. He wanted nothing more to see her closer, to watch her sleep peacefully.

Without another thought, Sasuke, completely in charge of his movements this time, left his bedroom, walking out of his house and across the street. He knew Rikana was home, so he looked around until he found a sturdy drain pipe on the side of the house. He climbed up it, using all of the muscles he had earned from the sports he had spent a vast majority of his life in.

As he reached the roof, he quietly walked across it until he found himself positioned above Sakura's window.

He dropped down, his feet on the ledge, and climbed in the open window in almost silence. She really did look like an angel in her sleep. The almost scowl like expression she wore around school was wiped from her face. She looked so peaceful. Sasuke walked closer, trying to get a better view.

He felt like she was invading some personal space, but he reasoned himself saying that Sakura had climbed into his bedroom all the time. Not to mention his shower, with him in it! Her breasts were perky and looked softer than the rest of her skin. Her waist curved in on the side, and back out for her luscious hips.

Sasuke walked closer to the bed, sitting on the edge.

Sakura stirred, her eyes opening, "Sasuke?"

He nodded.

Sakura became more aware of her surroundings, realizing she was awake, "What are you doing here?"

"I don't care if you're fucked up. I want you," With that, Sasuke leaned forward, taking Sakura's lips as his own.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm evil and I love cliffies. :)<strong>

**I have a few projects I'm working on so this chapter was a little shorter, but I think it's filled with some good dirty fluff. You tell me!**


	11. Closer

His words were like the first hit of a joint to her. Strong and hard hitting, but comforting and relaxing all in the same. When his lips crashed against her, it was even harder than that first hit of a joint, it was something different from earlier. The words he said, causing the kiss to give her butterflies in her stomach, encompassing her logic, if only for a second.

Much against the will of the feeling pooling in her stomach, Sakura pulled away from his lips, "You don't understand, Chicken Butt."

Sasuke smirked at how she added her ever endearing Sakura humor to a situation more serious like this, "Then explain it to me."

Sakura couldn't help but feel his eyes lingering below her face. She wasn't ashamed of her body, she loved it, honestly, and she was comfortable with it. But she wanted him to look her in the eyes for this, so she pulled the blanket from under him to cover her, his obsidian eyes moving back to her face, a small blush resting on his cheeks.

"I...this… it'll change things," Sakura normally wasn't one to be at a loss for words, but at this moment, she couldn't help it.

"Isn't that the point?"

"Sasuke, I really don't think you get it. You've seen what I do with my life. I have an addictive personality."  
>"Hn." His gruff didn't match the slight cock of his head.<p>

"I get attached easily, I mean, hell, you sit and drink with me one day and I do it for the rest of the week, isn't that proof enough?"  
>Sasuke felt like she was trying to put him down easily, like he had done to all those girls before. It was unnerving and he felt himself angering, "Are you trying to reject me?"<p>

Sakura's eyes opened in shock, "No, the last thing from it. I'm trying to let you know that if this is what you really want, be prepared to see a lot of me…"

Sasuke inched forward, "You're the first thing other than music that makes me feel anything good. I'm okay with seeing a lot more of you."

With that, he pulled at the blanket covering her chest, Sakura letting him take it from her body. Their eyes stayed connected for a few more seconds and she felt his hands lightly touch the skin on her breast. She hadn't felt that touch there in so long, she allowed her head to move back in a moan. With that, she realized it was quiet in the room and those sounds would cause Rikana to wonder, so she turned and pressed play on her iHome.

The music played as Sasuke put his hand on the side of her face, pulling her lips to his. He licked her bottom lip, and she opened her mouth slightly for the dance their tongues were performing together.

Sasuke kissed down Sakura's neck as she ran her hands on his bare chest, feeling the toned skin. His lips were greedy, those of a man not really patient enough to wait for his prize, and she knew this first time with her Adonis would be fast. But she was okay with that. If Sasuke meant what he said, it wouldn't be their last time together.

Sakura felt his tongue on her nipple, a half gasp, half moan, leaving her mouth. His hand massaged the opposite nipple, the heat in her, building. Her hand went to the back of his head, her fingers twisting in his hair. She looked down at him as he looked up, their eyes meeting in the most sexual of eye gazes she had ever experienced, causing Sakura to bite her lip in anticipation.

Sasuke's lips left her breasts, trailing kisses down her flat stomach as he reached the top of the blanket, both of them knowing there was nothing underneath. Sakura had never thought the way she slept would lead to anything of this caliber, but she couldn't think much on that right now, not while his lips were leaving a fiery trail on her skin.

Sasuke moved the blanket, his eyes met directly with her scars. He kissed the blemish on the leg closest to him, into her inner thigh. He listened to the sound of her sweet, seductive moan as she kissed her inner thigh. As his mouth made its way closer to her core, he felt her back arch, the suspense getting the best of her, sending her special spot exactly where he wanted it.

Sasuke let his tongue touch the nub, which sent her further into his mouth as she arched her back further, looking as flexible as a gymnast. He smirked into the warm skin. If he were to ask himself what he was doing, he wouldn't even be able to tell himself. He didn't know what type of spell this girl had on him, why he felt like he could do these things and allow himself to connect with her, but he did, it felt right, and that was the end of it.

Sasuke's tongue entered the pink vixen's canal, his name softly leaving her lips. He could feel his member twinge with the same excitement and anticipation that Sakura reeked of a few minutes earlier.

"Sasuke," Sakura's breathed his name.

He lifted his head from between her, "Hn?"

"I need you," She inched her body forward, trying to get closer to the elastic on his basketball shorts.  
>"Oh, do you?" Sasuke could honestly say he felt like he was no longer in control. Who was this, being playful and seductive?<p>

He watched as Sakura nodded and bit her lip, causing his nether region to twinge again. Why did she have to be so_ sexy_?

Sasuke removed his shorts and boxers, kicking them to the side. He positioned himself in front of her, "Is this what you want?"

She nodded again.

"I can't hear you," He got pleasure, watching her squirm with suspense, waiting for him to plunge into her depths.

"Yes, I need you, Sasuke," Sakura couldn't deny the way he was beginning to dominate her, drove her insane. His sex appeal gaining about 20% as he did so.

The music on Sakura's iHome finally registered inside of her brain as Sasuke placed an arm on each side of her, looking deeply into her jade eyes and he entered her. She felt the itch she couldn't scratch begin to get relief as he moved inside of her.

_You let me violate you._  
><em>You let me desecrate you<em>  
><em>You let me penetrate you<em>  
><em>You let me complicate you<em>

His thrusts weren't only giving Sakura pleasure, but himself as well, she was so warm and inviting. How could it not be pleasurable. He watched as her eyes closed and she moaned again beneath him.

_I wanna fuck you like an animal_  
><em>I wanna feel you from the inside<em>  
><em>I wanna fuck you like an animal<em>  
><em>My whole existence is flawed,<em>  
><em>You get me closer to God<em>

"Harder," Sakura almost whispered the word.

"What?"

She spoke up this time, "Harder."

He gave her what she wanted, thrusting as hard as he could into her, and he knew he had done a good job when he felt her nails scraping against his back as she moaned.

_Through every forest, above the trees,_  
><em>Within my stomach, scraped off my knees,<em>  
><em>I drink the honey inside your hive<em>  
><em>You are the reason I stay alive!<em>

Sasuke felt Sakura's walls start closing around him, indicating her orgasm. As she did, she moaned his name, her body clenching impossibly tight around him, extracting his own orgasm.

With that, he collapsed half on top of her, half on the side. Their eyes met and Sasuke kissed her puffy lips, "I'm definitely okay with seeing a lot more of you."

Sasuke watched as Sakura smiled, wrapping her arm around him before her eyes closed, drifting off to sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry, it's been a bit. I haven't been in the mood to write(I know, I'm awful) and then I was busy with my crochet andddd then I got sick.<strong>

**Soooo here is the 11th installment of Take the Edge Off. I vaguely know where I'm taking this story, so bare with me. It's a darker story, but you already know that. Please, let me know what you think of this chapter & story. :]**

**The song is Closer by Nine Inch Nails. It took me a bit to decide on WHAT song I was going to use. There are so many good sexually related songs, and obviously this is a music oriented piece. But not as bad as my music oriented pieces can get... anyway, after this story, I'll continue working on HOTH when I can and I have another story in mind for AFTER HOTH. If you haven't, Please check outh HOTH or House on the Hill. **

**Thank you to all my readers and reviewers! :]**


	12. Brothers

The past week was different for Sasuke. He hadn't been able to break the spell on him for years, since his brother had left the burden of following in his footsteps on his shoulders. Yet, this one girl, the one that had him constantly wanting to know everything he could able her, rarely leaving his mind, had.

Sasuke didn't know if it was the curve of her hips, the taste of her lips, the smell of her hair, or what that caused her to linger on his brain at all the times he wasn't with her. He enjoyed every passing in the halls at school when she would flash a sly smile his way that only he would notice. He thrived during soccer practice, knowing she was on the roof of the school, watching him. His teammates had taken notice, but none could figure out why.

Friday, after the soccer game, his team winning once again, he walked into the foyer of his home.

"Sasuke?" A familiar voice filled his ears, and he wasn't sure if he was going insane or not.

Sasuke walked around the corner, after removing his shoes, to see his brother, mother and father sitting in the living room, drinking tea.

Sasuke and his brother looked very much alike, except for long nasolabial lines, the obvious age difference and the longer hair Itachi wore.

"Itachi, what are you doing here?" Sasuke took the last empty seat, next to his older brother.

"Can't a brother come home?" There was something in the way he said those words that Sasuke knew something was up. First his parents go visit him for the weekend, and now he's here?

"What's going on?"

"Sasuke, don't be rude! Welcome your brother home," his mother scolded from above her tea cup.

Sasuke nodded, knowing very well not to cross either of his parents, "I'm sorry. Welcome home, Itachi. How long will you be staying?"

"Well…" Itachi started.

"Itachi will be staying with us indefinitely," their father chimed in, his voice authoritative.

Sasuke shook his head, "Why?"

Itachi saw his father about to speak and raised his hand, "Father, let me." Itachi turned to face Sasuke, "Obviously, I can't say that this is just one situation of me missing my younger brother, so I will tell you the truth. I know you're used to seeing me calm and collected, brother, but it's not always that way. My line of work is very stressful, I'm sure you know."

Sasuke nodded appropriately, "Yes, you've mentioned."

"Well, I had a minor breakdown and mother, father and I have decided it's best if I return home for a little while. While home, I think I might take a few courses in business, it's less stressful than law, to be quite honest."

"That's wonderful, Itachi," Sasuke knew that his father would take those words wrong, so he quickly added, "That you will be home and less stressed. I'm sorry about what happened."

"Thank you," Itachi stated, then drinking from his cup.

Sasuke sat and listened to his parents and brother talk, his mind barely on the conversation, but on who he was hoping was waiting on his balcony.

He stood, "May I please be excused? I have some class work to do."

"Of course," his mother waved him off.

Sasuke grabbed his bag, climbing the stairs. He shut his door, and moved quickly to the balcony, opening it to see his pink haired vixen sitting on the chair she had claimed for herself.

"Well, hello there," Sakura was smoking a cigarette, a smile filling her face.

"Hey," Sasuke sat down next to her.

Sakura threw the cigarette with force, making sure it landed off of Sasuke's parents property. She took a few steps, straddled Sasuke's lap, kissing him.

"You seemed to have a good game," She said when they pulled apart.

Sasuke returned her comment with a light hearted, "Hn."

Sasuke looked at the girl sitting on his lap, the shadows from the almost completely fallen sun making her look paler than normal. He watched as he bit her lip lightly before talking, "Does that mean you don't have anymore energy?" She winked seductively at him.

Sasuke raised his eyebrow, "Do you wanna go to your room?"

Sakura shook her head, "Nope. I want you to do me right here, right now."

"Here?"

"Here."

Sasuke didn't know if it was the smartest idea with his family in the house, but the tightening in his pants told him there was no refusing.

The kissed they shared was passionate and heated, filling them both with the need for more. When Sakura pulled away giggling, he cocked his head. She responded to his questioning look, saying, "Do me over the railing."

As the words left her mouth, she left his lap, walking and facing the street over the railing, lifting her skirt over her hips. Sakura tilted her head backwards just in time to see Sasuke's somewhat shocked expression before he pushed his pants and boxers down, filling her easily.

They found a pace, Sakura moaning over the railing, into the night sky. As Sasuke felt her walls starting to tighten around him, the worst thing happened.

"Little brother?"

Sasuke stopped in his tracks, turning around, seeing his brother standing in the doorway. _"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"_ Sasuke thought to himself, trying to figure out what to do. Obviously his brother could see him!

"I'm sorry!" Itachi all but yelled as he closed the door, closing himself out of Sasuke's view.

In the three seconds that Itachi had entered and exited the room, Sasuke had not stopped the pace he and Sakura had created. He felt Sakura's walls tighten as she moaned loudly, her orgasm pulling him into his, once again.

Sakura turned around, almost instantly after her orgasm finished shaking through her body, "Who was that?" She pulled her skirt down as Sasuke pulled his pants up quickly, running into his room and to his door.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Sasuke voiced his previous thoughts out loud.

Sasuke opened his door quickly, seeing a shocked Itachi still standing in the hall. He had never seen Itachi shocked like this. He grabbed his older brothers arm, pulling him into the room, shutting the door behind them.

Sakura had walked into Sasuke's room, sitting on the bed.

"Itachi?" Sasuke stood across from his brother who was staring at him, "Itachi...please, don't say anything to Mother and Father. Please."

"Sasuke, is this your brother?" Sakura asked, innocently.

Itachi snapped out of his shocked state, "Yes, I am." He walked closer to Sakura, bringing his hand out to shake hers, "I'm Itachi, and you are?"

"Ita-" Sasuke started to say, only to be cut off.

"Sasuke, you're being rude, I asked the lady her name."

Sakura looked at what seemed to be a tense scene building, "I'm Sakura."

Itachi smiled warmly, "Hello, Sakura. It's a pleasure to meet you. Even if it is on such...odd...circumstances."

"Likewise," Sakura leaned back on her elbows on Sasuke's bed.

Sasuke walked closer to his brother again, "Itachi, please."

"Oh little brother, I won't say anything."  
>"You won't?"<p>

"Well, I won't say anything about walking in on you two."  
>"But…?"<p>

"I do believe Mother and Father would like to meet your...friend."

Sakura cringed at the way the older male said the word friend, making it seem like a swear. Sure, she and Sasuke hadn't talked about what they were, and she didn't really care to talk about it, but to have the word said like that, it bothered her. Even if she weren't to be titled as Sasuke's girlfriend, she felt like they were more than friends. It was obvious to herself that she had feelings for the boy, and she wouldn't deny that.

Sasuke's voice brought her out of her thoughts, "Itachi, don't bring Sakura into this."

"Oh foolish little brother...it'll come out eventually… Just, don't forget to lock your door next time you plan on banging the girl next door on your balcony," with that, Itachi left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Sasuke immediately locked the door behind his brother, "Sakura, I'm sorry that happened. It was stupid, I didn't lock the door, I was too excited to see you."

A smile spread on her lips, "Oh, really?"

"What?"

"You just said you forgot to lock the door because you were too excited to see me," the smile on Sakura's lips spread even further as a shade of pink rose to Sasuke's cheeks.

He tried to play it off by pulling her up, placing his hands on her hips, "Who wouldn't be excited to see their_ friend_?"

The emphasis he put on the word made grin as he pulled her into a kiss.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry about the time. I've been dealing with some stuff here that has left me with no motivation to write, I won't get into it.<strong>

**Anywayyy, so Itachi is back, gonna take some business classes, how will that change things for Sasuke? Will he finally do what he really wants to? **

**Thanks to everyone who reviews, it means so much to me! If you guys have any thoughts about what you think should happen, will happen, etc, please, let me know. I LOVE to know what people think about the direction of a story.**

**~Lex**


	13. Dinner For Suckers

Sakura had no idea what to expect. Her brain was attacking her with every possibility. The past two weeks had been great. School was going well, Rikana and Sakura were still on good terms, and spending free time with Sasuke was the cherry on top.

But then this happened. Sakura looked in the mirror, making sure she looked presentable, sighing. Last night, Sasuke had sprung on her that Itachi let him know it was time to introduce her to his parents. Sasuke urged her to come, mentioning that Itachi would tell his parents about them if he didn't and it would just be easier for him to do it.

Sakura put on her shoes and walked down the stairs. Rikana was sitting on the sofa in the living room, Sakura trying to hold back her smile. Last weekend while Rikana was out, Sakura and Sasuke had taken to christening the exact spot where her foster parent sat.

"You look nice!" Rikana said, turning to face Sakura.

"Thanks," Sakura bit her lip.

"Where are you going, if you don't mind me asking."

"Uhhh, I guess now is as good as a time as ever… I've been kinda seeing the kid across the street…"

"The Uchiha boy?" Rikana's eyes opened a little wider in surprise.

Sakura nodded and added, "Yeah… We met at school."

"Wow, he's a cutie!" The older woman winked at Sakura, causing her to laugh lightly.

"Yeah… Anyway, I'm going over to meet his parents."

"Ah, I see. Have a good evening. I'll probably be working by the time you get home. Make sure to lock the door."

"Thanks, Rikana," Sakura turned around to walk out the door. She paused and turned around again, "For everything, that is. I really thought you would have kicked me on my ass by now. I'm not exactly the best foster to work with."

Rikana's eyes softened to Sakura's words, "Sakura, you've had a rough past. That doesn't make you a bad person. You've made some stupid mistakes, but you're working on it. If it wasn't for the help of others, I wouldn't be the person I am today. Yeah, to you it might seem like all I do is work, but honestly, I don't need to work all those jobs. I do it because I can, because I want to help people. I made some very bad mistakes when I was your age...ended up in the some of the same places you did."

Sakura nodded and smiled before waving, turning on her heel and walking out the front door. She crossed the small street to get to Sasuke's house, knocking on the door.

A woman, who didn't look old enough to be Sasuke's mother, opened the door. Her hair was dark and long, she had a thin waist and a smile that matched Sasuke's.

"Hello, you must be Sakura. Come in, come in! I'm Sasuke's mother, Mikoto," The woman stepped aside to let Sakura into the front door of the house for the first time.

"Thank you," Sakura never knew what to say in moments like this, so she kept to very few words if she could.

As Mikoto closed the door, and Sakura removed her shoes, Sasuke bound down the stairs, stopping midway, gasping. Sakura looked up at him and he seemed to be staring at her. She figured Sasuke would expect her to show up in her normal clothing and makeup, but even Sakura knew better. When you meet the parents of the person you're intimate with, you go the extra mile.

Sasuke took in the girl before him, for a second, only realizing it was Sakura by her pink hair that she had held back with a small flower headband. Her makeup was light and natural, her green eyes more vibrant than normal. She wore a small charm around her bare neck, rested on her collarbone. Whoever said less was more was really wrong. For once, he couldn't see Sakura's midriff and he had never wanted her more. Her red sundress had a bodice that was form fitting, a small black ribbon tie right under her bust and a small flair at the bottom.

"Wow," Sasuke breathed, almost forgetting his mother was standing right next to Sakura, "You look beautiful."

Sakura's cheeks caught fire at Sasuke's compliment, "Thank you."

"How sweet, Sasuke," Mikoto smiled at her son, "How about we all join Itachi and Fugaku in the living room for some tea."

The two teens nodded and followed Sasuke's mother, whilst whispering to themselves.

"I didn't expect you to dress like this," Sasuke whispered to Sakura, his eyes almost swallowed by hers.

"Good, I like to mess with people expectations."

As they entered the living room, Sasuke motioned for Sakura to sit next to him on the small love seat across from his parents.

"Father, this is Sakura," Sasuke was worried about his father's reaction to the very first girl he ever brought home. He couldn't deny that Sakura had tried to appeal to his parents by dressing like a totally different girl than he knew.

"Hm." His father's grunt matched his own, "Is this girl why your grades have fallen?"

"Fugaku, his only bad grade these past few weeks was in poetry, you know he never does well with that," Mikoto interjected, trying to relieve some of the pressure she knew was put on the girl as well as her son. She wasn't always as strict as she had turned out to be, didn't always plan on raising her children under a fist of fury like her husband and her had. "Anyway, how did you two meet?"

Sasuke paused, not sure how to answer his mother's question. He couldn't very well tell her that Sakura happened to fall down onto his balcony one day and give him a bottle of liquor.

Sakura on the other hand, didn't seem to miss a beat, "Literature class, actually. I just moved here not too long ago and the sensei thought it a good idea to put his top student with me in peer work to make sure I was doing well."

_"Damn, she's fast on her feet…"_ Sasuke thought to himself, nodding to his mother when she looked at him.

"That's great that your sensei considers you the top student, Sasuke," Mikoto's eyes looked towards Sakura now, "Sakura, you say you just moved here not too long ago? Where are you living?"

"I'm living across the street," She responded coolly, knowing the questions coming next.

"Oh… with Rikana?" Sakura nodded. "I didn't realize she had any relatives."

"She doesn't. I'm in the foster program and Rikana is my foster parent. I'm really lucky to have her as a foster."

"Oh...well that's lovely."

Sasuke could pick up the tone in his mother's voice, condescending for no reason and felt bad knowing that Sakura could obviously pick it up too.

Sakura however, took it like a champ, "Yeah, it is. If it wasn't for people like Rikana and the foster program, I wouldn't be here right now."

That seemed to end the small talk in the living room as Mikoto shuffled out to tend to the buzzing oven. Itachi and Fugaku sat and talked amongst themselves as Sasuke and Sakura sat in uncomfortable silence until they were called to the table.

During the meal Fugaku finally spoke to Sakura again, "What are you interests, Sakura?"

"I learned how to play the mallet instruments at an old fosters house, and I love to sing."

The older man scoffed, "You don't have any other interests? Maybe something you can make into a career?"

"Well, I always thought I could do something with music."

He scoffed again, "Music won't get you anywhere in life." Sakura could feel Sasuke tense next to her and she felt herself taking the defensive.

"I think when you're as talented as some people out there like your son, you can." She almost spat her words, the facade of the good girl slowly fading away. She couldn't help herself.

"Sasuke has no interests in making that into a career, he's going into business."

Sakura could see Sasuke's hand on the table, fisted, growing white from the strain. Obviously his parents knew nothing about their son, "My mistake." It took everything in her power not to say what she really wanted, but she didn't want to start a war with his parents.

After dinner, the two excused themselves, leaving the house and walking around in the small streets while the sun started to set.

"Sorry about that," Sakura said, kicking a stone with her small heels.

Sasuke looked up, "About what?"

"Almost losing my cool."

"Don't worry…. It was nice," Sasuke paused, taking her hand tentatively, "Having someone stand up for me."

He turned her towards him, placing a hand on her cheek, kissing her slowly and passionately for the first time in public.

"Thank you, Sakura."

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys, sorry, I know it's been a bit. I've been in a slump, working on my crochet, working on starting my own small(very small) business and this was really one of the last things on my mind.<strong>

**I kinda really hate this chapter, but it was necessary to introduce Sakura to Mikoto & Fugaku. **

**I've decided a few things though, from now on, before I post a story, I wanna have it pretty much completed. Because I don't want to be that writer that has you waiting for weeks/months/years on end. And I'm now like 99% sure how I'm going to end this story, it's just figuring out the final steps to GET to the end.**

**I really hope you guys like it so far, I'd love your feedback. :]**


	14. Pain

The ambulance lights woke Sasuke from his slumber. He groaned, sitting up and walking to his balcony door, opening it and the warm early summer air encompassing him. His eyes opened wider, the sleep stripping from his eyes as he saw the stretcher beginning to come out of the house across the street.

His feet acted on their own, turning him around and flying to his bedroom door, opening it and running down the stairs. His hands fumbled with the lock on the front door, and he heard the sounds of his family waking at his noise.

Sasuke arrived across the street as the ambulance doors closed. He looked up at Rikana, standing at the door in a robe.

"What's going on?" Sasuke demanded of Rikana.

Rikana kept her lips sealed tightly.

Sasuke ran in front of the medic, "What's wrong with Sakura?"

"Sorry kid, I can't tell you that." The medic walked around Sasuke, heading to the drivers side door.

He looked back to his home to see his parents and brother standing at the door, taking in the scene in front of them.

Sasuke turned back to Rikana as the ambulance drove away, "What's going on, Rikana? What's wrong with Sakura?"

The woman looked like she had aged ten years in the past three days since he had last seen her, "Her music was louder than normal for this time of night, so I went to her room. I found Sakura unresponsive in her bathroom. There was blood everywhere…." Her eyes were distant.

"What do you mean?"

Rikana continued, "I checked her wrists, she didn't cut herself. Then I saw the bag of pills on the floor. I'm sorry, Sasuke."

"What do you mean you're sorry? What happened?" He couldn't comprehend what she was saying. Did Sakura kill herself? What was going on? Why would she do that?

"She's going to the hospital. After that she's going to rehab. It'll be her second time. She's going to get sent away from me with the program."

"But why?"

"That's all I know right now, I'll let you know when I know more, Sasuke. Please, go home, get some rest."

"How can I get rest when I don't know what's going to happen? How can I sleep when I don't know if she's okay?" The past few months with the pink haired girl had been some of the best moments in his young life. He wanted to tell her that too. He had planned a nice picnic the next day for the two. How could this be happening?

"She was breathing when they took her. I forcibly got some of the pills up by the time they got here… they gave her some activated charcoal to get the rest out of her system. Sasuke, really, go home and sleep," With that Rikana turned and closed the door.

Sasuke stumbled back to his house, his parents and brother silently looking on. He pushed past them, for the first time in his life, forcibly moving them out of his way. He didn't want to see them, he didn't want to hear their thoughts. He just wanted to be alone.

Sasuke trudged up the stairs, slamming his door. He put his earphones on and played his music full blast, loud enough to disturb his thoughts and get him to sleep.

* * *

><p>The next day, Sasuke walked over to Rikana's house, knocking on the door. He saw her leave earlier that day and she had returned. She wasn't wearing work clothes, so he presumed she had visited Sakura. He had tried, only to be denied since he wasn't family or a guardian.<p>

Rikana opened the door, letting Sasuke in.

"How is she?" He asked, his hands fumbling in his pockets.  
>"She's okay. She was moved to the rehabilitation center as I was leaving," Rikana motioned for him to join her at the table. "The people from the foster program contacted me today, and after she's released she won't be in my care any longer."<p>

Sasuke and Rikana sat in silence for a few minutes as he thought about the words she was saying. The one person who had managed to get him out of his shell, was leaving him. If he would have known this was going to happen, he would have told her his feelings. He would have told her that her smile makes his heart jump, her scent drove him crazy and her voice calmed him. He would have told her that he had fallen in love with her.

But he didn't have that chance anymore.

* * *

><p>Sasuke sat in his room a few hours after being at Rikana's, playing on his guitar. The new chord mix coming to him easily, creating a song that he thought would be as beautiful as she was. He wished he could play it for her. The lyrics coming to mind sounded perfect with the melody his fingertips were creating.<p>

The doorbell rang in the empty house and Sasuke put his guitar down. He walked downstairs, opening the door. Rikana stood on the other side.

"Sorry, I had to pack up Sakura's stuff for the consultant that came around and I found this. It has your name on it," Rikana handed Sasuke the envelope and turned to leave.

"Thank you," Sasuke said as Rikana turned and nodded before heading the rest of the way out of the yard.

Sasuke walked back up to his room, locking the door, not wanting to be interrupted if his family came home. He sat on his bed, opening the envelope, pulling the papers out, reading them.

_Sasuke,  
><em>_I'm sure you're really confused about what's going on right now. I'm sorry you have to go through this. If I hope I can explain this so you don't hate me for the rest of your life.  
><em>_The past few months we've spent together have been amazing. I'm glad to have found you in my life and I thank you for entering my life.  
><em>_I loved every second we spent together. Every. Second. You got me. And I feel like I got you too. You're not a man of many words, so I think I did… You didn't judge me for my past. You accepted it. You're the first person I met who has accepted me for my decisions.  
><em>_Don't think this is your fault. Because it's not. It's just something I had to do.  
><em>_I'm weak. I've always been weak. I like to act like I'm tough, but I'm really not.  
><em>_I'm sure you figured that out by now.  
><em>_Don't let your parents stop you from your music. Follow your heart._

_I love you,  
><em>The letter was signed with her signature flower.

Sasuke let the few small tears run down his cheeks as he wracked his brain, trying to figure out what had gotten to Sakura to the point that she hurt herself. He couldn't imagine why she would do it. The past four months were the best he could have imagined.

He laid his head down on his pillow, the paper still smelling like her.

"Sakura…" He mumbled to himself. He threw the envelope to the ground, a small paper falling out, he picked it up, his jaw dropping.

* * *

><p><strong>I know this chapter is kinda short. I apologize, but this story is coming to an end. This is the second to last chapter. I have the last chapter written.<strong>

**I know this is a shorter fic, but I needed it that way. It's my first fic in a while, so I needed to ease myself in. I'll be writing HOTH after this, which you can find on my page. I really hope you guys enjoy these last two chapters.**


	15. Kiss Me

**I'll have you all know, this chapter has a LOT of Ed Sheeran lyrics in it. I've been on a binge since I'm awaiting the new album & I love him. I've been planning this chapter for quite some time, with these lyrics and his music. So… enjoy, hopefully. I don't own any of the songs or characters(except Rikana) in my story. I just like to play with them.**

**Also...it MIGHT be a little dark for you. If you start to feel that way, please, don't continue to read, I don't wanna offend anyone.**

5 Years Later

The air was cool as Sasuke left the large bus and headed into the stadium. The backstage area was under lit, saving energy and power for the concert that night.

After the night he received the envelope from Rikana, his life had changed. He stopped playing sports, he didn't give a fuck. The second he turned 18 Sasuke left his parents house. He wasn't going to let those monsters control his life. They didn't give a shit about him and what had happened. They just wanted him to do what they wanted.

Sasuke had gotten a summer job after she left, teaching young children how to play instruments. He saved up his money and got another job during the school year. He didn't care if his grades dropped, he just needed to get the hell out.

One Friday at the coffee shop right down from his apartment he played during an open mic night. His song for her. Or he wanted to assume her. He sang the words for the first(and last) time in public along with the music at his fingertips. After his performance an agent came up to him, offering his card.

Since then everything was history. He recorded his songs, mostly just his voice and his guitar, becoming a wildly popular music artist. He always thought it'd was what he wanted, but Sasuke could feel the gaping hole still there. It had been there since that early summer night.

Sasuke went through the motions, getting ready for his first concert in his hometown in three years. He hadn't returned since the agent gave him the card, and he couldn't lie to himself and say it wasn't hard to be back in the place it all started.

When the tour bus drove past the school, Sasuke felt her presence there. Knowing that he'd most likely never see her again tore him up. He had hired someone to find her, but to no avail. He figured she must have left the country, or changed her name, her hair, whatever identifying features she had. All he wanted was a chance to talk.

You'd think after five years away from someone you'd give up, you'd move on, but he couldn't. Everything he did, he thought of her, what she went through, what happened after she left, what he could have done to help if she told him. It ate away at him, leaving him with nightmares.

While sitting in the smaller dressing room, Sasuke's mind wandered to everything that had happened in the past few months in his hometown. Nothing was ever going to be the same. He hadn't spoken to his parents in almost five years, his brother, occasionally, but after the blow up he had with his parents, he didn't bother.

After she left, Sasuke took what she had said to heart. He didn't stop playing his music. He would do that much, and he hoped that somewhere, she knew that he had done what she asked of him.

"Sasuke, you're on in 10," His managers head popped into the room.

"Hn," Sasuke responded, getting out of the chair. He started on the long descent to the stage, his guitar waiting in the wings for him. He could see the crowd going wild, probably filled with some of his old classmates.

He listened for his cue and walked onto the stage, waving. It was like he became another person, taking his stage persona for the crowd. It was normally the only time he felt the hole in his heart dissipate.

"Thank you!" He spoke into the microphone sitting on the stage. He sat on the small stool behind the mic. "As many of you know, this is my hometown. A lot of my music was inspired from things that happened here."

The girls in the crowd screamed loudly, swooning over his words, imagining that he wrote his songs for them.

Sasuke cleared his voice and started.

_Settle down with me_  
><em>Cover me up<em>  
><em>Cuddle me in<em>  
><em>Lie down with me<em>  
><em>And hold me in your arms<em>

Sasuke took a look out into the crowd. Tons of screaming girls with their arms in the air, for him. The only one he wanted to see, wasn't there.

_And your heart's against my chest, your lips pressed to my neck_  
><em>I'm falling for your eyes, but they don't know me yet<em>  
><em>And with a feeling I'll forget, I'm in love now<em>  
><em>Kiss me like you wanna be loved<em>  
><em>You wanna be loved<em>  
><em>You wanna be loved<em>  
><em>This feels like falling in love<em>  
><em>Falling in love<em>  
><em>We're falling in love<em>

As he sang his words, his eyes watched the crowd, a flash of pink catching his eyes. He stood off the stool, trying to get a better look. It couldn't be, could it?

_Settle down with me_  
><em>And I'll be your safety<em>  
><em>You'll be my lady<em>  
><em>I was made to keep your body warm<em>  
><em>But I'm cold as the wind blows so hold me in your arms<em>  
><em>Oh no<em>  
><em>My heart's against your chest, your lips pressed in my neck<em>  
><em>I'm falling for your eyes, but they don't know me yet<em>  
><em>And with this feeling I'll forget, I'm in love now<em>

He lost sight of the pink, and thought to himself that it was probably just some girl with fake hair or a shirt. It couldn't be her. He had sent people to find her.

_Kiss me like you wanna be loved_  
><em>You wanna be loved<em>  
><em>You wanna be loved<em>  
><em>This feels like falling in love<em>  
><em>Falling in love<em>  
><em>We're falling in love<em>  
><em>Yeah, I've been feeling everything from hate to love from love to lust<em>  
><em>From lust to truth I guess that's how I know you<em>  
><em>So I hold you close to help you give it up<em>

As he entered the final chorus of the song, he saw the flash of pink again, it came into his view, and he watched it get closer to the stage through the general audience.

_So kiss me like you wanna be loved_  
><em>You wanna be loved<em>  
><em>You wanna be loved<em>  
><em>This feels like falling in love<em>  
><em>Falling in love<em>  
><em>We're falling in love<em>  
><em>Kiss me like you wanna be loved<em>  
><em>You wanna be loved<em>  
><em>You wanna be loved<em>  
><em>This feels like falling in love<em>  
><em>Falling in love<em>  
><em>We're falling in love<em>

As Sasuke finished the last word, he felt the breath leave his body. His eyes met with those familiar jade eyes he had spent the past five years hoping to see again. He didn't know what to do. He was on stage and he felt like he was about to break.

Sakura was there. Standing a few rows back in the crowd, looking at him. The person he never thought he'd see again. The girl he wrote this song for, watching him.

Sasuke took the mic in his hands again, "So, like I said, a lot of my songs are inspired from stuff that happened right here in this town, right?" Screams of fans filled his ears. "Someone once told me to follow my heart. And that's the reason I'm here with you today. I wrote a song that I sang once, and only once, four and a half years ago. I wrote it for someone I'll never see, never know."

_You were just a small bump unborn_  
><em>In four months you're brought to life<em>  
><em>You might be left with my hair<em>  
><em>But you'll have your mother's eyes<em>  
><em>I'll hold your body in my hands be as gentle as I can<em>  
><em>But for now you're scan of my unmade plans<em>  
><em>Small bump four months you are brought to life<em>

Sasuke had written these words the night he found out. The night Rikana brought him the envelope.

_And I'll whisper quietly_  
><em>I'll give you nothing but truth<em>  
><em>If you're not inside me<em>  
><em>I'll put my future in you<em>

The paper had fallen onto the floor. When Sasuke had picked it up, his jaw had dropped. He saw the black and white picture.

_You are my one, and only_  
><em>You can wrap your fingers round my thumb<em>  
><em>And hold me tight<em>  
><em>You are my one, and only<em>  
><em>You can wrap your fingers round my thumb<em>  
><em>And hold me tight<em>  
><em>And you'll be alright<em>

At that moment, everything Rikana had told him the night Sakura had taken the pills made sense to him.

_You're just a small bump I know_  
><em>You'll grow into your skin<em>  
><em>With a smile like hers<em>  
><em>And a dimple beneath your chin<em>  
><em>Finger nails the size of a half grain of rice<em>  
><em>And eyelids closed 'till soon opened wide a small bump<em>  
><em>In four months you'll open your eyes<em>

Never one to show many emotions, he had cried at the realization.

_And I'll hold you tightly_  
><em>And tell you nothing but truth<em>  
><em>If you're not inside me<em>  
><em>I'll put my future in you<em>  
><em>The blood. Her pain.<em>  
><em>You are my one, and only<em>  
><em>You can wrap your fingers round my thumb<em>  
><em>And hold me tight<em>  
><em>You are my one, and only<em>  
><em>You can wrap your fingers round my thumb<em>  
><em>And hold me tight<em>  
><em>And you'll be alright<em>

She didn't think she could go on after what had happened. She confessed her love to him in that note.

_And you can lie with me_  
><em>With your tiny feet when you're half asleep<em>  
><em>I'll leave you be<em>  
><em>Right in front of me for a couple weeks<em>  
><em>So I can keep you safe<em>  
><em>Her heart couldn't take the loss.<em>  
><em>'Cause you are my one, and only<em>  
><em>You can wrap your fingers round my thumb<em>  
><em>And hold me tight<em>  
><em>You are my one, and only<em>  
><em>You can wrap your fingers round my thumb<em>  
><em>And hold me tight<em>  
><em>And you'll be alright<em>

He should have realized sooner. He was so stupid. She had stopped wearing her belly shirts, she didn't climb as much.

_'Cause you were just a small bump unborn_  
><em>For four months then torn from life<em>  
><em>Maybe you were needed up there<em>  
><em>But we're still unaware as why<em>

At the end of the song, a few small tears ran down his cheeks. He looked into the crowd and saw her there, crying, realizing the meaning of the song.

* * *

><p>At the end of his performance, Sasuke stood in the wings, watching the crowd dissipate. She stood still. She looked the same as the day he had last seen her. Wearing a typical Sakura outfit and the typical Sakura boots.<p>

Sasuke turned to a security guard standing in the wings, "See that girl?" He pointed to the pink haired star of his dreams as the guard nodded. "Please, ask her to come to my dressing room."

The guard had been with Sasuke's tour for awhile and found this to be the oddest request. Sasuke had only said few words to him, mostly thanks for protecting him from out of control fangirls. But he did as he was asked, and Sakura accepted.

Sasuke waited in his dressing room, wiping the sweat from the heat of the lights off his brow. He hadn't thought this through. What if she didn't want to speak to him? What if-

"Sasuke," He looked up to see the the pinkette standing in the doorway.

Sasuke stood up and slowly took a few steps forward as Sakura closed the door. "Sakura…"

She smiled dimly, not exactly sure what to do, "Uh...Good performance."

"Thank you," Sasuke stood still for a few seconds before he shook his head roughly, "No, stop this."

"Stop what?"

"Acting all awkward. It's not like you."

"It's been five years, Sasuke. It's hard not to be awkward."

"It's not awkward for me. I've thought about you every day. You should have talked to me. Not just left me an envelope telling me about it. Just a picture. You should have told me."

"I'm sorry," Sakura kicked the ground, and turned slightly, as if she was embarrassed, "I was afraid. I was going to tell you the next day….you had planned such a nice day for us…"

Sasuke walked closer to her so she wouldn't be faced away from him anymore. "You shouldn't have been afraid. I would have given everything…"

Sakura was silent, afraid to speak anymore. She never expected him to want to talk to her, she never expected to have to explain herself. She looked to the floor, and she felt his hands touch her cheeks, sending a shiver down her spine. She hadn't touched another male in five years, every time she even thought about it, his face came to mind. She had almost forgotten how his touch felt.

"Sakura…" Sasuke pulled at her cheeks to get her to look at him. She had tears in her eyes.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would you have given everything for me?"

"Because," Sasuke paused, waiting for her eyes to connect with his, "I love you. I have loved you for the past five years. You took my heart with me when you left that night. You made me feel whole. You said I got you. You got me. If you would have told me, I would have been there through everything. You didn't need to go through it alone…"

Sakura's tears fell faster, "You still love me? After what I did?"

"I'll always love you, Sakura. You have impacted my life more than you can imagine. I've hired countless people to find you, to bring you back to me. I've been trying for so long just to see your face again."

With those words, Sakura felt like the past five years and her biggest mistake had never happened. She stood up on her tip toes, bringing her lips to his, taking the first step, just like their first.

* * *

><p><strong>:) So yeah, this is the end of the story. I'm sorry if you don't like it, but I love it. It comes around to the beginning and it's open ended.<strong>

**The songs are Kiss Me & Small Bump by Ed Sheeran. Sorry, like I said, I've been on a kick lately.**

**For my first actual fic in quite a few years, I love how this came out. As I said, I'm gonna start on House On the Hill(HOTH) then. I have the next few chapters of that written, but I wanna rewrite the 2nd. I hope if you all enjoyed this, you'll take the time to come on over to the House and check it out.**

**Let me know what you guys think of the end.**

**~Lex**


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